tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19478425375006048532017-10-13T01:47:26.190-07:00Quiet Corner GlassEarly glassworks in northeastern ConnecticutMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-45763385836979676282017-09-16T18:34:00.000-07:002017-09-16T18:38:03.641-07:00Early Glass at the MoCG<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2PvLU9yVsr8/Wb3DcVgmaPI/AAAAAAAACPw/G9BYgkOnBGwR8Uwq_qIOsuP5Bh86jo5dACLcBGAs/s1600/marshallcollectionwindow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1500" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2PvLU9yVsr8/Wb3DcVgmaPI/AAAAAAAACPw/G9BYgkOnBGwR8Uwq_qIOsuP5Bh86jo5dACLcBGAs/s320/marshallcollectionwindow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free blown and dip mold glassware in the Marshall collection. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The September open house at the Museum of Connecticut Glass featured a display by Tom Marshall, who specializes in unusual and early free blown, dip molded and pattern molded glass, of the type that could have been made by the eighteenth and early nineteenth century glass works of Eastern Connecticut. Many Museum regulars turned out to admire some spectacular antique bottles and tableware, and there was also a slow but steady stream of visitors from the general public.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cZdg0tQvEqM/Wb3DfGOyHVI/AAAAAAAACP0/P2ccjGZPGGs0yXCQpsnQ7-CccumwDzj2wCLcBGAs/s1600/early.conn.glass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cZdg0tQvEqM/Wb3DfGOyHVI/AAAAAAAACP0/P2ccjGZPGGs0yXCQpsnQ7-CccumwDzj2wCLcBGAs/s320/early.conn.glass.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Crude free blown inkwell, bottles and tableware. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c5yt_fgAMyk/Wb3DhP1WvuI/AAAAAAAACP4/TOSFMUQPCBcS4L-Wn9RPzE2DvjEB2LljgCLcBGAs/s1600/pitkin.hat.etc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c5yt_fgAMyk/Wb3DhP1WvuI/AAAAAAAACP4/TOSFMUQPCBcS4L-Wn9RPzE2DvjEB2LljgCLcBGAs/s320/pitkin.hat.etc.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pattern molded corner, with Pitkin-type flasks, inkwell, and an extremely rare Pitkin hat (likely a salt cellar, or possibly a whimsey). </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gb7CBa-VTos/Wb3Dj2ggbPI/AAAAAAAACP8/kYaYiAty7mkbgEEWaLkmNba3G_OwzZBiACLcBGAs/s1600/case.gin.whatzit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1097" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gb7CBa-VTos/Wb3Dj2ggbPI/AAAAAAAACP8/kYaYiAty7mkbgEEWaLkmNba3G_OwzZBiACLcBGAs/s320/case.gin.whatzit.JPG" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Early, flat-bottomed case-gin bottle whatzit with a plain sheared lip. Smaller than the common Continental case gins, in a more Connecticut-ish or New England-y glass color, with a very rare mouth treatment for this sort of bottle. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zYxzzpdu4Xg/Wb3DljVWS7I/AAAAAAAACQA/0RErfT1bROwWBSAykTkoDqKDX0JpVcVSgCLcBGAs/s1600/freeblown.inkwell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="1500" height="242" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zYxzzpdu4Xg/Wb3DljVWS7I/AAAAAAAACQA/0RErfT1bROwWBSAykTkoDqKDX0JpVcVSgCLcBGAs/s320/freeblown.inkwell.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Large (baseball-sized) free blown inkwell. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qJrW7-H_STY/Wb3DnWtUG4I/AAAAAAAACQE/ho3qZR-EWXADCxm8b9jcNb0Mba3SmWz8QCLcBGAs/s1600/coventry.glass.sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1600" height="171" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qJrW7-H_STY/Wb3DnWtUG4I/AAAAAAAACQE/ho3qZR-EWXADCxm8b9jcNb0Mba3SmWz8QCLcBGAs/s320/coventry.glass.sign.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Coventry Glass Works" sign, likely not period. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Aside from the special glass from Tom Marshall, the Museum had a recent acquisition on display: a large blue painted wooden sign reading "Coventry Glass Works." This doesn't look all that old to me; it's pretty clean and the blocky sans-serif lettering looks kind of modern. Others who have examined the sign are also of the opinion that it's a twentieth century fantasy reproduction, not something that was ever hung outside the factory 200 years ago. Apparently a similar (also possibly not authentic) sign exists for the Willington Glass Co., in a private collection in the area. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-89628913481857328842017-06-25T17:31:00.000-07:002017-06-25T17:31:24.676-07:00Pitkin Flask Display<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9VGNGdW6NA8/WUraKBN4uDI/AAAAAAAACMc/0amtgKg1oSEuC5N8MlhyAmGGWLgydcMcACLcBGAs/s1600/pitkin.museum.display.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="1600" height="231" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9VGNGdW6NA8/WUraKBN4uDI/AAAAAAAACMc/0amtgKg1oSEuC5N8MlhyAmGGWLgydcMcACLcBGAs/s320/pitkin.museum.display.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin-type flask display at the Museum of Connecticut Glass. June 17, 2017.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The June open house at the Museum of Connecticut Glass hosted a unique display of about 30 Pitkin-type flasks, plus some related bottles and inkwells. Dana Charlton-Zarro, a well-regarded specialist in this style of early American glass, was kind enough to bring up a portion of her fabulous collection for the open house, and to stay around to share her extensive knowledge of the bottles.<br /><br />Dana's collection focuses on New England Pitkin-type flasks, many of which were indeed made at the Pitkin Glass Works, though more or less identical bottles were produced by the Coventry, Mather, Glastenbury and probably Willington glass factories in Connecticut, as well as in New Hampshire factories. Glassware in the same general style was produced in Mid Atlantic and Midwestern glass works, though the forms, colors and rib counts of New England Pitkins seem to be fairly distinctive.<br /><br />The process of blowing Pitkin-type flasks was complex and required multiple steps executed by a skilled craftsman. Various modern glass studios, including Pairpoint on Cape Cod, have attempted to recreate New England Pitkins, though the delicate patterns and eggshell-thin glass of better antique flasks seems to be very difficult to replicate. At some point, probably around 1820, Pitkin-type flasks went out of production, replaced by sunburst flasks and other styles of embossed bottles blown in two part metal molds, in a much less technically demanding procedure.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-02OlrDmQGUo/WUraIQAhiXI/AAAAAAAACMY/SQzujJmqjnwv9lcNjNjXjLNTYpcNinsfgCLcBGAs/s1600/dana.pitkin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-02OlrDmQGUo/WUraIQAhiXI/AAAAAAAACMY/SQzujJmqjnwv9lcNjNjXjLNTYpcNinsfgCLcBGAs/s320/dana.pitkin.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dana Charlton-Zarro (with flask) explains the finer points of Pitkin-type flasks to some Museum visitors. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAmDVFaE-CM/WUraAzTuKLI/AAAAAAAACMM/nFoxZNY7hJcWnzZY25cJk-zHjztgvYlywCLcBGAs/s1600/pitkin.flask.fail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="972" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kAmDVFaE-CM/WUraAzTuKLI/AAAAAAAACMM/nFoxZNY7hJcWnzZY25cJk-zHjztgvYlywCLcBGAs/s320/pitkin.flask.fail.JPG" width="222" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The gaffer had some difficulties with this bottle: some sections of the sides got folded over and stuck to themselves during the blowing process. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ecNjxCDJ5c/WUrZ--A6Q4I/AAAAAAAACMI/Vxf9NAXQfIwv6UMSMh-8PY098qfyMbnQgCLcBGAs/s1600/small.pitkin.flask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1500" height="236" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ecNjxCDJ5c/WUrZ--A6Q4I/AAAAAAAACMI/Vxf9NAXQfIwv6UMSMh-8PY098qfyMbnQgCLcBGAs/s320/small.pitkin.flask.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some smaller Pitkin flasks, between four and five inches tall. Pitkins below five inches tall (or more than seven inches) are relatively rare.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EBu06eY50Ig/WUraCCVqy4I/AAAAAAAACMQ/yjQOMHUAgIcW03xWWXyNwgqX0HV4RoHuACLcBGAs/s1600/pitkin_ink.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1600" height="120" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EBu06eY50Ig/WUraCCVqy4I/AAAAAAAACMQ/yjQOMHUAgIcW03xWWXyNwgqX0HV4RoHuACLcBGAs/s320/pitkin_ink.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin type inkwells. The squared-off example (center left) was probably expanded in a dip mold for snuffs, and was recovered from a Connecticut stream bank relatively recently. The "cross-swirled" example (center right), with ribs curved to the left and to the right, is also very rare. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-khSPp4Cwx9g/WUraGzY3IeI/AAAAAAAACMU/W2pzCzLYYowNu681_2wruz8Bw4r7Qhe1QCLcBGAs/s1600/bluegreen.pitkin.flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1400" height="232" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-khSPp4Cwx9g/WUraGzY3IeI/AAAAAAAACMU/W2pzCzLYYowNu681_2wruz8Bw4r7Qhe1QCLcBGAs/s320/bluegreen.pitkin.flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some more special Pitkins: pint and half-pint examples in a blue-green color, with barely any hint of olive (the color is more blue in person), and a greenish, wide, flattened bottle with very tight ribbing. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-86868378219793644732017-05-26T18:07:00.000-07:002017-05-26T18:08:31.921-07:00Timothy and Christine Hill Collection at Heckler's<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-blEIJFTbVS0/WSizjlWfnlI/AAAAAAAACKk/ddNMLg9C-DoPFKrEOOMU-czPi4JPZQCQACLcB/s1600/Woodstock_Ct_may2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1015" data-original-width="1400" height="232" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-blEIJFTbVS0/WSizjlWfnlI/AAAAAAAACKk/ddNMLg9C-DoPFKrEOOMU-czPi4JPZQCQACLcB/s320/Woodstock_Ct_may2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woodstock, Connecticut, May 26, 2017. One of the most beautiful parts of the country at one of the loveliest times of the year!</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co. is going to be selling the collection of Timothy and Christine Hill over the course of 2017. The Hill collection of bottles and related antiques was varied and very large, but with definite concentrations in historical flasks and veterinary medicine bottles. The Hill collection sales started on Friday with a large, well-attended live auction in the Heckler barn, which included some unusually fancy lots.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyoPKa9_mhs/WSi3lQ1cTeI/AAAAAAAACKw/KPXItPLJngAb_8Ig2CwGr7Mv8eI_m1jRQCLcB/s1600/norman.c.heckler.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1300" height="209" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyoPKa9_mhs/WSi3lQ1cTeI/AAAAAAAACKw/KPXItPLJngAb_8Ig2CwGr7Mv8eI_m1jRQCLcB/s320/norman.c.heckler.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Norm Heckler Sr. gets the auction going in front of his old George S. McKearin, Inc. sign.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFDGbDunowg/WSi3nt7jW0I/AAAAAAAACK0/tjzfLE2B64sZrREc-0bXcYveuxpokcaLACLcB/s1600/ernie_eldridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1003" data-original-width="1300" height="246" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFDGbDunowg/WSi3nt7jW0I/AAAAAAAACK0/tjzfLE2B64sZrREc-0bXcYveuxpokcaLACLcB/s320/ernie_eldridge.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ernie Eldridge, antique dealer and mayor of Windham, Ct,&nbsp; took over conducting the auction at times. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CUqcfuuGlfY/WSi3rn22uzI/AAAAAAAACK4/ExqJkWlLJB0u2XFo1g2oJUOlQVIJpQa6wCLcB/s1600/dr.lesures.famous.remedies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1300" height="251" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CUqcfuuGlfY/WSi3rn22uzI/AAAAAAAACK4/ExqJkWlLJB0u2XFo1g2oJUOlQVIJpQa6wCLcB/s320/dr.lesures.famous.remedies.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Dr. Lesure's Famous Remedies," goony veterinary medicine cabinet. Not really my thing, but apparently that was a $3500 plus 17% buyer's premium plus 6.35% sales tax for a total of $4355.03 and nearly the most expensive item of the sale goony veterinary medicine cabinet. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XacK5-oaTyQ/WSi9hR536OI/AAAAAAAACLI/t4zqs-p-11kAg2w7Pml5Pu3a3Vov68bJwCLcB/s1600/radium_radia_box.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XacK5-oaTyQ/WSi9hR536OI/AAAAAAAACLI/t4zqs-p-11kAg2w7Pml5Pu3a3Vov68bJwCLcB/s320/radium_radia_box.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radium Radia medicine bottle with contents (brown, not obviously luminescent) and box. Probably not actually an ionizing radiation hazard? </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;And here's some of the good stuff:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SscAZ6O3zJk/WSi9mhwlELI/AAAAAAAACLM/s9A7PHbzg1UDHFbR3jd6PT9h7TYSGodrACLcB/s1600/gi-85.lafayette.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1200" height="241" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SscAZ6O3zJk/WSi9mhwlELI/AAAAAAAACLM/s9A7PHbzg1UDHFbR3jd6PT9h7TYSGodrACLcB/s320/gi-85.lafayette.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GI-85 </i>LA FAYETTE COVETRY <i>[sic]</i> C-T<i> / liberty cap pint flask, Hill collection ex Brown collection. Crude, huge bubbles, in fine condition. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUqUdDy65ss/WSi9pDj4sfI/AAAAAAAACLQ/BOkgBiGrc24BqXtxucVfXx7phdFAV0CswCLcB/s1600/gv-9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUqUdDy65ss/WSi9pDj4sfI/AAAAAAAACLQ/BOkgBiGrc24BqXtxucVfXx7phdFAV0CswCLcB/s320/gv-9.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GV-9 railroad / eagle pint flask, Coventry Glass Works. Nice green color, good impression in a mold where the embossing is usually pretty lumpy, and it went for cheap. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DkiYvGjKa_o/WSi9rPpwNEI/AAAAAAAACLU/E05iJLPb-LIrhgheMvZsRSCjW9Gsn6wuwCLcB/s1600/gviii-16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1200" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DkiYvGjKa_o/WSi9rPpwNEI/AAAAAAAACLU/E05iJLPb-LIrhgheMvZsRSCjW9Gsn6wuwCLcB/s320/gviii-16.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GVIII-16 sunburst flask. Generally considered a Coventry product, but there is supposedly some evidence from dug shards that it was (also?) made at the Pitkin Glass Works. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gBnNvf9VCDY/WSi9v8JwEcI/AAAAAAAACLY/rUGVuW8mkG4xKjw8W78yZj69rgJvkoQDgCLcB/s1600/giv-16.masonic.eagle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gBnNvf9VCDY/WSi9v8JwEcI/AAAAAAAACLY/rUGVuW8mkG4xKjw8W78yZj69rgJvkoQDgCLcB/s320/giv-16.masonic.eagle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GIV-16 masonic arch /eagle flask.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lSUMIkIvoh4/WSi9zGnjrMI/AAAAAAAACLc/Se3ckSdaINwbHUf5FyZrRobx2bJNyr1mACLcB/s1600/giv-16.pontil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1500" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lSUMIkIvoh4/WSi9zGnjrMI/AAAAAAAACLc/Se3ckSdaINwbHUf5FyZrRobx2bJNyr1mACLcB/s320/giv-16.pontil.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GIV-16 base. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The highlight of the auction was an aquamarine GIV-16 masonic flask, which went for around $5300 with buyer's premium. The manufacturer of these rare and handsome bottles is obscure; it's possibly a Coventry product, but the design of the eagle with banner and oval and the relative frequency of aquamarine examples, suggest that a New Hampshire glass works might be more likely. Norm Heckler commented that he collected GIV-16s when people thought they were from Coventry, but then sold them off when collector opinion shifted to a Keene origin.<br /><br />The next Heckler online auction (#151), opening July 3, will be a large sale and include a lot more material from the Hill collection. It hasn't been organized into catalogue form yet, but everything was laid out for inspection in the online auction shed, and I spotted some good Connecticut and New England glass: <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XzRYwWQ3BWs/WSjKHgpunKI/AAAAAAAACLs/JHcvpqithaE74rxDXDowaYtKHPy6QI_zACLcB/s1600/heckler.summer17auct.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XzRYwWQ3BWs/WSjKHgpunKI/AAAAAAAACLs/JHcvpqithaE74rxDXDowaYtKHPy6QI_zACLcB/s320/heckler.summer17auct.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There are some Coventry ink bottles and early New England utilities in there, along with some half pint Coventry historical flasks. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vkLz2EIzzfM/WSjKMrUVBBI/AAAAAAAACLw/feCweQUUmZUEvOCTXwy0dhm-8YFDmKXsACLcB/s1600/heckler.summer17auct2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vkLz2EIzzfM/WSjKMrUVBBI/AAAAAAAACLw/feCweQUUmZUEvOCTXwy0dhm-8YFDmKXsACLcB/s320/heckler.summer17auct2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pint Coventry railroad and sunburst flasks, Willington eagles and a half pint New London anchor / eagle, in among a whole lot of other stuff. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6lAqE4mJC_o/WSjKO7wZ-oI/AAAAAAAACL0/YbN8i-uyQ-oomfTJgrycZBS4dcliMbrgACLcB/s1600/heckler.summer17auct3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6lAqE4mJC_o/WSjKO7wZ-oI/AAAAAAAACL0/YbN8i-uyQ-oomfTJgrycZBS4dcliMbrgACLcB/s320/heckler.summer17auct3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Westford traveler's companion and sheaf of wheat flasks, with Coventry and Willington eagles, etc. etc</i>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R91CF9jHPl8/WSjKSh7VaEI/AAAAAAAACL4/fOBdqZ45Kac1efnqbYHl7oAA-NWIDRUwACLcB/s1600/gi-33.washington.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1151" data-original-width="1300" height="283" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R91CF9jHPl8/WSjKSh7VaEI/AAAAAAAACL4/fOBdqZ45Kac1efnqbYHl7oAA-NWIDRUwACLcB/s320/gi-33.washington.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GI-33 WASHINGTON / JACKSON pint flask, Coventry Glass Works.This was one of the Connecticut bottles that jumped out at me: not common (but a number have suddenly been cropping up in auctions lately), and usually seen in dark, muddy olive colors, not this sort of clear, light "chestnut glass." </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-52310597666351534242017-05-21T07:28:00.001-07:002017-05-21T17:04:53.732-07:00Museum of Connecticut Glass 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoCxo3eeLiU/WSGPsXDbc2I/AAAAAAAACKA/ycff_0enjaQZ_pdsAoa0fLK9am-OMxOygCLcB/s1600/1museumconnglasscoventry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoCxo3eeLiU/WSGPsXDbc2I/AAAAAAAACKA/ycff_0enjaQZ_pdsAoa0fLK9am-OMxOygCLcB/s320/1museumconnglasscoventry.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Center of the National Historic Glass Factory District in Coventry, Ct: the old University of Connecticut agricultural experiment barn, the Capt. John Turner house (both MoCG property) and the Nathaniel Root house. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />&nbsp;The <a href="http://www.glassmuseum.org/index.htm">Museum of Connecticut Glass</a> started their 2017 schedule of public events with the annual antique glass and bottle show. Tours were also offered of the John Turner house, which was built ca. 1812-1813 by one of the incorporators of the Coventry Glass Works.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0PRc6DA0WA/WSGPt7qp2CI/AAAAAAAACKE/TXUV3NiyhR0WPvsITv3giX7yUYLJ5G_nACLcB/s1600/2coventrybottleshow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0PRc6DA0WA/WSGPt7qp2CI/AAAAAAAACKE/TXUV3NiyhR0WPvsITv3giX7yUYLJ5G_nACLcB/s320/2coventrybottleshow.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The sales field at the Coventry glass show, May 20, 2017.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp; In spite of some cool, cloudy weather with a few drops of rain for the first half of the show, there was a great selection of glass up for sale, and a decent turnout of buyers, though it possibly wasn't as busy as some other Coventry shows in recent years. There was a conflict with another area glass sale, which probably didn't help, at least from the seller's point of view.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6rPT4UlwoSA/WSGPv1pUU4I/AAAAAAAACKI/uo-YNVxOuP4x04m3xIkiRGOCKJ7ADa9TQCLcB/s1600/3coventrybottles2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6rPT4UlwoSA/WSGPv1pUU4I/AAAAAAAACKI/uo-YNVxOuP4x04m3xIkiRGOCKJ7ADa9TQCLcB/s320/3coventrybottles2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stoneware, case bottles and more on offer. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9myOTQc-tm0/WSGPxcioyfI/AAAAAAAACKM/M796c4rbxCE4XeQUyK00byRMBnmTAhxCQCLcB/s1600/4willingtonflasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9myOTQc-tm0/WSGPxcioyfI/AAAAAAAACKM/M796c4rbxCE4XeQUyK00byRMBnmTAhxCQCLcB/s320/4willingtonflasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some of the good stuff: Willington, Westford and New London flasks. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qX3E887Kebk/WSGP0OD510I/AAAAAAAACKQ/1OSpybnWGKU0iSuzgSg3F91AtBoau3xAQCLcB/s1600/5gi-81laffayettedewittclinton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qX3E887Kebk/WSGP0OD510I/AAAAAAAACKQ/1OSpybnWGKU0iSuzgSg3F91AtBoau3xAQCLcB/s320/5gi-81laffayettedewittclinton.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A Coventry DEWITT CLINTON / LAFAYETTE half pint historical flask, GI-81.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />There weren't many New England Pitkin flasks available at the show this year, but in June there will be a chance to check out one of the best collections of Pitkin flasks anywhere...<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DbE05IYipSM/WSGP31lnCwI/AAAAAAAACKU/XvmAzRHvvo8dBKoZLLTM42iFfQyJOJ1TQCLcB/s1600/6pitkin_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DbE05IYipSM/WSGP31lnCwI/AAAAAAAACKU/XvmAzRHvvo8dBKoZLLTM42iFfQyJOJ1TQCLcB/s320/6pitkin_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Connecticut or New England Pitkin-type flasks.&nbsp; </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Next month's Museum activity will be a display of Pitkin-type flasks and related early American glass, with expert Dana Charlton-Zarro on hand to share her knowledge of the subject. This will, I believe, be the first time that Dana has traveled to the Pitkin homeland in Connecticut to give a public talk about her favorite antique bottles, and it should be a special opportunity to see and learn about a beautiful and widely admired class of early glassware. The Pitkin display will be held Saturday, June 17, 1:00-4:00 at the Museum of Connecticut Glass.<br /><br />Future MoCG open houses will be held the third Saturday of each month, 1:00-4:00, through the autumn. Special exhibits will include:<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">• </span></span>July 15 - Victorian glass tableware manufacture in Connecticut, with Nick Wrobleski (tentative).</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">• August 19 - Coventry Glass Works flasks and other antique Connecticut blown-in-mold glass. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">• September 16 - early Connecticut freeblown and pattern-molded tableware, whimsies and other rarities, with Tom Marshall.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">• October 21 - TBA. </span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-43407412696199126402017-05-06T19:16:00.000-07:002017-05-06T19:16:34.108-07:00Heckler Auctions Spring 2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBt97tnzvq8/WQzNEv5HYkI/AAAAAAAACI8/HYzEr8tUM2E81ekfg551EQvuAlr04iZrwCLcB/s1600/heckler.barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBt97tnzvq8/WQzNEv5HYkI/AAAAAAAACI8/HYzEr8tUM2E81ekfg551EQvuAlr04iZrwCLcB/s320/heckler.barn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Heckler property, April 2017.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>The Heckler &amp; Co. live auction season started up last week, with a nice selection of old bottles, other glass and a bit of stoneware. There were some of the more common Willington, Westford and Coventry flasks up for bidding. I picked up a matched pair of early dip-molded New England snuff bottles. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mO5Ip-JwR30/WQzNF0eJTDI/AAAAAAAACJA/2sRYF8zOTos4vdf4O-YqmiAuMnA8dagTACLcB/s1600/liveauction.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mO5Ip-JwR30/WQzNF0eJTDI/AAAAAAAACJA/2sRYF8zOTos4vdf4O-YqmiAuMnA8dagTACLcB/s320/liveauction.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The live auction setup inside the barn, Norm C. Heckler in the vest.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nU9TmWdZfkk/WQzNHOGkZSI/AAAAAAAACJE/XXohGvF1NbkVCnQgzvoVQrkULNDFUGu9QCLcB/s1600/onlineauction148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nU9TmWdZfkk/WQzNHOGkZSI/AAAAAAAACJE/XXohGvF1NbkVCnQgzvoVQrkULNDFUGu9QCLcB/s320/onlineauction148.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Heckler's absentee <a href="https://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/148/">auction 148</a>. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Heckler's also had their May online auction up for previewing. As usual, there are going to be some quality Connecticut bottles included in the sale.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AiPuYPhZwB4/WQzNJiGFCUI/AAAAAAAACJI/T1adJAulqB8zyk0py2AhzvgjnU-izA5ZgCLcB/s1600/gviii-3.starburst.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AiPuYPhZwB4/WQzNJiGFCUI/AAAAAAAACJI/T1adJAulqB8zyk0py2AhzvgjnU-izA5ZgCLcB/s320/gviii-3.starburst.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Coventry Glass Works pint sunburst flask, GVIII-3.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The GVIII-3 Coventry sunburst in this sale has excellent glass quality and a fine color on the greener side of olive, but some minor cooling cracks in the shoulders. Another notable Connecticut sunburst flask in the sale will be a GVIII-5a, probably from the Pitkin Glass Works; quite a rare flask but not quite a perfect example.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvoxCMRjVrw/WQzNBy4PSBI/AAAAAAAACI4/QTxOvvFdUTwjKMJRy6CVRK-9Jv0xCPD-gCLcB/s1600/by.aa.cooley.hartford.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvoxCMRjVrw/WQzNBy4PSBI/AAAAAAAACI4/QTxOvvFdUTwjKMJRy6CVRK-9Jv0xCPD-gCLcB/s320/by.aa.cooley.hartford.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BY A.A. COOLEY HARTFORD CON <i>blacking bottles, with insect powder and smelling salts bottles. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Two examples of what is thought to be a boot-blacking bottle made in Coventry, embossed A.A. Cooley, will be on offer. These come up for sale on a pretty regular basis, but the ones here have strong embossing and are probably better than most.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kW3TuYLnQ3A/WQzNOV1CoKI/AAAAAAAACJQ/eLSFiksPcLUNKGAYsk8VXao6jMMfRvwWQCLcB/s1600/willington.gii-64.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kW3TuYLnQ3A/WQzNOV1CoKI/AAAAAAAACJQ/eLSFiksPcLUNKGAYsk8VXao6jMMfRvwWQCLcB/s320/willington.gii-64.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-64 pint eagle flask, Willington Glass Company.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>This Willington eagle flask is another relatively common bottle, but in a warm amber that stands out from the usual run of murkier, olive-amber Willington glass.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0XBKHjYSADY/WQzNMyChh4I/AAAAAAAACJM/cBihZmSk2-0o0SqpqT8nAFbw16Wu6ST6wCLcB/s1600/newlondon.eagle.gii-68.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0XBKHjYSADY/WQzNMyChh4I/AAAAAAAACJM/cBihZmSk2-0o0SqpqT8nAFbw16Wu6ST6wCLcB/s320/newlondon.eagle.gii-68.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-68, pint eagle/anchor flask, New London Glass Works.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>This New London flask is a warmer, lighter, cleaner shade of amber still. This color and quality of glass probably would have been nearly impossible for an earlier factory like Willington to achieve. <br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-62579128496356239722017-02-13T16:42:00.000-08:002017-02-14T05:32:06.531-08:00Willington Pickle Bottle Variant <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tkrL_r8Erjg/WKJBfsdicXI/AAAAAAAACGc/pvcuvZ5qpEsppdpG_SXxdEmj2Tlb6HsXwCLcB/s1600/willington_pickle_bottle_small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tkrL_r8Erjg/WKJBfsdicXI/AAAAAAAACGc/pvcuvZ5qpEsppdpG_SXxdEmj2Tlb6HsXwCLcB/s320/willington_pickle_bottle_small.JPG" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Willington pickle bottle, typical small-size example. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Willington Glass Company in West Willington, Connecticut is the source of three different sizes of cathedral pickle bottles, of a distinctive square, wide, chunky-looking and ornately decorated design. The smallest Willington pickle is about eight inches tall and three inches wide, with three sides with fancy cathedral-window designs with hanging "bellflower" decorations, and one plain label side. In typical examples, the three bellflowers are all more or less identical. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UFdAphLIlY/WKJBpGzYw3I/AAAAAAAACGk/9durh47N3j4Vl1LRfujEhhK9RCHp-1vKACLcB/s1600/willipicklevarientb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4UFdAphLIlY/WKJBpGzYw3I/AAAAAAAACGk/9durh47N3j4Vl1LRfujEhhK9RCHp-1vKACLcB/s320/willipicklevarientb.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variant small pickle bottle, side A. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Some years ago, two cathedral pickle bottles that were similar to the small Willington pickle turned up in a barn in Wallingford, Connecticut (about 40 miles from Willington). The details of the embossing on these two bottles is slightly different from typical examples, however, and it seems as if two different molds were used to produce small Willi pickles. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7VzdLKqs-sk/WKJBlpnVh7I/AAAAAAAACGg/VsfPHBKYg60EL-7sSXIBAZBO57GyMpxNQCLcB/s1600/willipicklevarc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7VzdLKqs-sk/WKJBlpnVh7I/AAAAAAAACGg/VsfPHBKYg60EL-7sSXIBAZBO57GyMpxNQCLcB/s320/willipicklevarc.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variant small pickle bottle, side B.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;In the variant small Willington pickle, the three bellflowers are all slightly different from each other, and different from the bellflowers on the typical bottles. In the photos, variant side A is pretty similar to a typical example, but side B has noticeably more widely spreading petals on the dangling flower. On side C, the cathedral decoration doesn't have a component that really looks like a flower at all, instead bearing two loops and and a detached dot on its lower side. The fact that the variant bottle is shorter than the typical bottle pictured here, with a stubby neck, isn't significant, as the necks of these bottles are inherently variable, having been largely formed by hand. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEy0AHluGKY/WKJBwMnS9dI/AAAAAAAACGo/5Wm_HCbU3HAeu9TO55mc9DwxPrmoB3gDwCLcB/s1600/willington_pickle_varient.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEy0AHluGKY/WKJBwMnS9dI/AAAAAAAACGo/5Wm_HCbU3HAeu9TO55mc9DwxPrmoB3gDwCLcB/s320/willington_pickle_varient.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variant small pickle bottle, side C, with loops and dot design.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>Whether the variant pickle bottle was actually made in Willington is an open question. It's almost identical to the small Willi pickle in most ways, but the differences in the bellflowers indicate that two different molds were used, although it might be possible that the differences are due to modifications made to a single mold. The owner of one of the variant bottles speculates that it could be a product of a different glass works, possibly New London. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0epQiUaJX0/WKJB0OuPTQI/AAAAAAAACGs/U852ecv_nXo-FXaXU-i8--7ErhwOqAnuACLcB/s1600/willi_pickle_openpontil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0epQiUaJX0/WKJB0OuPTQI/AAAAAAAACGs/U852ecv_nXo-FXaXU-i8--7ErhwOqAnuACLcB/s320/willi_pickle_openpontil.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Open pontil on base of variant pickle bottle. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>In a further complication, Norman C. Heckler once owned a cathedral pickle bottle that he says was close to the Willington pickle bottles in form, but was distinctly smaller than the smallest of the three known sizes of bottle from Willington. Possibly, West Willington might have been the source of five different cathedral pickles. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-45866327044568134832017-01-05T18:57:00.000-08:002017-01-09T09:14:27.573-08:00Heckler Winter 2017 Auction<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rppl-3wh80c/WG2p2NjVeKI/AAAAAAAACFE/WEQQSup3UW43fhWSpDCHva_qgFS4q6GGgCLcB/s1600/giii-5_reverse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rppl-3wh80c/WG2p2NjVeKI/AAAAAAAACFE/WEQQSup3UW43fhWSpDCHva_qgFS4q6GGgCLcB/s320/giii-5_reverse.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GIII-5 pint Cornucopia / Urn flask.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co. is running an absentee auction (<a href="http://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/145/">Select Auction 145</a>) this month, and as usual there are some interesting pieces of Connecticut glass on offer. At first glance, the flask above looks like the common (as 180+ year old American bottles go) GIII-4 from Coventry, but there is a circular depression in the middle of the urn, and collectors consider it to be a separate mold, GIII-5. The source of GIII-5 is uncertain, but given it's similarities to a known Coventry Glass Works bottle, it is quite possibly another Coventry product. This flask is listed as "scarce," meaning about 35-75 examples exist, and I would guess that the number of GIII-5s in the world is probably towards the lower end of that range.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TGjgyspdmqE/WG2p4yiL7qI/AAAAAAAACFI/ApOHcwZ3peA3CxnETtUyZWvH1x1Jh07FQCLcB/s1600/giii-5_obverse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TGjgyspdmqE/WG2p4yiL7qI/AAAAAAAACFI/ApOHcwZ3peA3CxnETtUyZWvH1x1Jh07FQCLcB/s320/giii-5_obverse.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GIII-5 obverse.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>The cornucopia side of GIII-5 is also distinct from the common GIII-4, but in a less obvious way, with a somewhat irregular depression on the horn. Aside from these depressed areas, the 4 and the 5 appear to be identical.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwNStS2AV8I/WG2p6uPkYVI/AAAAAAAACFM/WXnhNluCgFwGhbGDPv1vfYpe5s1U994MgCLcB/s1600/giii-5_base.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwNStS2AV8I/WG2p6uPkYVI/AAAAAAAACFM/WXnhNluCgFwGhbGDPv1vfYpe5s1U994MgCLcB/s320/giii-5_base.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GIII-5 base. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>It's impossible to know for certain, but I suspect that GIII-5 actually was made in a GIII-4 mold, in the latter part of the mold's useful existence when it had accumulated damage, repairs or modifications that are responsible for the depressions on the urn and cornucopia. Similar, circular to irregular, depressions occur on occasional examples of the GI-81 pint Lafayette / liberty cap, and since <a href="http://quietcornerglass.blogspot.com/2015/06/lafayette-flask-mold.html">half of the mold has survived to the present day</a>, the defects in the mold that produced the variant flasks could be examined. The<a href="http://quietcornerglass.blogspot.com/2016/06/heckler-auction-138.html"> unlisted Connecticut sunburst flask</a> in a previous Heckler sale could be an analogous situation, blown in a modified or deteriorating GVIII-3 mold. A pair of Pitkin Glass Works sunbursts are another candidate for this type of explanation, with GVIII-5a representing the original mold and GVIII-7 being the variant, almost identical except for a pair of faint circles added to one face.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QEV7xeQCk-0/WG2p-quSPXI/AAAAAAAACFQ/2LhII2wZUbQwf72Twn5tx8oV1PKCmYlwACLcB/s1600/chestnut_flask_bluegr.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QEV7xeQCk-0/WG2p-quSPXI/AAAAAAAACFQ/2LhII2wZUbQwf72Twn5tx8oV1PKCmYlwACLcB/s320/chestnut_flask_bluegr.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free flown New England chestnut bottle, light blue-green color. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The auction includes quite a few New England free blown bottles, both chestnut and globular forms. Some of the larger examples have cracks, cooling fissures or potstones with "radiations" (stress cracks); such imperfections seem to be very frequent with big chestnut bottles. The example above is a rarer color, either light blue-green or a very dark aquamarine. Glass in this color was produced at most early Connecticut glass works, but not in anything close to the quantities that murkier olive/amber/yellow/green glass was made.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFjrp5q9o3s/WG2qAzQM93I/AAAAAAAACFU/Ua8Y62J2Fns4e9vMrIYJzc8lyGMqKwqVgCLcB/s1600/gi-80.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFjrp5q9o3s/WG2qAzQM93I/AAAAAAAACFU/Ua8Y62J2Fns4e9vMrIYJzc8lyGMqKwqVgCLcB/s320/gi-80.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GI-80 Coventry pint Lafayette / Dewitt Clinton flask, with rare Moxie bottle.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>One of the pricier items in this sale will probably be a just about perfect, delicately colored Lafayette / Dewitt Clinton pint flask from the Coventry Glass Works (GI-80). This is another scarce flask, though based on the number that turn up, probably on the more numerous side of scarce. The small, early Moxie bottle with applied top is not too bad, either. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4HWxkq6cK0/WG2qDqDbZkI/AAAAAAAACFY/Mq3oR_Mm17sFaLufv0wJJvBwM3Bp4sjhQCLcB/s1600/gii-66.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r4HWxkq6cK0/WG2qDqDbZkI/AAAAAAAACFY/Mq3oR_Mm17sFaLufv0wJJvBwM3Bp4sjhQCLcB/s320/gii-66.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-66 quart eagle / New London Glass Works flask.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>The New London Glass Works (1856-65) technically fall outside of Connecticut's quiet corner, but were another manufacturer of figured flasks in the eastern part of the state. The large, quart size GII-66 eagle flask is a rare bottle, though this specimen in aquamarine glass and with a smooth base is not quite as desirable as the pontiled examples in clear shades of green and amber that exist. New London was active later than most of the Connecticut glass factories that I write about, and generally produced a more refined type of bottle glass than that made by Coventry or Pitkin. Glass in nearly colorless aquamarine, or the bright, clean colors seen in some New London bottles is rare or absent from the products of the early 19th century Connecticut glass works.&nbsp; Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-25948547715450552552016-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:002016-11-09T04:37:40.188-08:00The Coventry Dewitt Clinton Flasks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pl9SMHxBkKY/WAFA1ULT54I/AAAAAAAACDM/QkiEDEi64VMApY7pKcIVjcfXi7hpBroDQCLcB/s1600/gi-81.clinton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pl9SMHxBkKY/WAFA1ULT54I/AAAAAAAACDM/QkiEDEi64VMApY7pKcIVjcfXi7hpBroDQCLcB/s320/gi-81.clinton.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Detail of the GI-80 Coventry Dewitt Clinton pint flask.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Dewitt Clinton (1769-1828) was the sixth governor of New York, among numerous other elected posts, probably most famous for pushing through the construction of the Erie Canal, one of the first great public works projects in the young United States. Today seems an appropriate day to write about the three historical flasks (and one variant) made to commemorate Clinton's achievements, around the year 1824.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DbhVsZEhfIs/WB9NvTKlNaI/AAAAAAAACEM/uJ7lSU8OmYYSoL4RTn4cGxvs-uvOty41ACLcB/s1600/coventryview.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DbhVsZEhfIs/WB9NvTKlNaI/AAAAAAAACEM/uJ7lSU8OmYYSoL4RTn4cGxvs-uvOty41ACLcB/s320/coventryview.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>View into the town of Coventry, Connecticut, from the east. The Coventry Glass Works were in the valley to the left of the tower on the horizon. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Aside from his advocacy of "Clinton's Ditch," as the canal was known to the haters, Clinton worked to expand public education, improve sanitation in New York City and create programs for the poor. There was opposition to all of these measures; we tend to think that the dichotomy between those who want a minimalist government that protects private property rights and little else, and those who think that government should "promote the general welfare" with education, transportation infrastructure and social welfare programs, is a modern phenomenon, but it has been a point of contention since the dawn of the republic.There are definite echoes of 200 year old political controversies in modern America, and indeed in the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h82R5TehynI/WAFA7j9ZL1I/AAAAAAAACDQ/VDPddVYBqUwCjxZ7Fle__EZLwYCYS5fwgCLcB/s1600/dewitt_clinton_bottles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h82R5TehynI/WAFA7j9ZL1I/AAAAAAAACDQ/VDPddVYBqUwCjxZ7Fle__EZLwYCYS5fwgCLcB/s320/dewitt_clinton_bottles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Coventry Glass Works "LA FAYETTE / DE WITT CLINTON" flasks: half-pint GI-81, pint GI-80, half-pint GI-82. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>None of the Dewitt Clinton flasks are exactly common, but the GI-80 pint is probably the most frequently encountered; I have even seen quite a nice example crop up in an area estate sale. Both GI-80 and the half pint GI-81 are considered "scarce" by McKearin and Wilson (American Bottles and Flasks), meaning about 35 to 75 specimens in existence, with 80 probably being at or above the high end of that range, and 81 being less common. A variant, GI-81a, exists, with two ribs around the base of the flask rather than three, but is very rare (10-20 examples). GI-82 is also very similar to 81, but without the "S &amp; C" embossing. It is considered to be rare, with about 20-35 extant examples. The example here has a very soft impression, and some sloppy wings of glass that oozed out along the mold seam at the neck; these sorts of manufacturing irregularities seem to be pretty frequent with this mold. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5exjdKcSIhw/WAFA9K_vmRI/AAAAAAAACDU/G3Ot6hybwFIlR5WMhWZp7FUk-jzGAHG7QCLcB/s1600/coventry.lafayette.clinton_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5exjdKcSIhw/WAFA9K_vmRI/AAAAAAAACDU/G3Ot6hybwFIlR5WMhWZp7FUk-jzGAHG7QCLcB/s320/coventry.lafayette.clinton_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The three main Dewitt Clinton flasks; GI-81a variant not pictured.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FTFV5XJuMHc/WAFBCRm7MjI/AAAAAAAACDY/mI67iszCLtgxXQCxFcLa4LQjfauOXzk3wCLcB/s1600/lafayette_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FTFV5XJuMHc/WAFBCRm7MjI/AAAAAAAACDY/mI67iszCLtgxXQCxFcLa4LQjfauOXzk3wCLcB/s320/lafayette_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Lafayette side of GI-81, GI-80 and GI-82</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYkyxqUsUts/WB9NSKkw9OI/AAAAAAAACEI/wN44ZUOQLu05i8mrNPY46TtGUzcNNv4iACLcB/s1600/gi-81cobaltNYHistSoc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYkyxqUsUts/WB9NSKkw9OI/AAAAAAAACEI/wN44ZUOQLu05i8mrNPY46TtGUzcNNv4iACLcB/s320/gi-81cobaltNYHistSoc.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Presumed 20th Century decorative flask, similar to GI-81. Collection of the New York Historical Society. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>This cobalt blue Lafayette / Dewitt Clinton flask is certainly a reproduction, less than a hundred years old, though I haven't learned anything definite about its manufacture. Coventry is not known to have made blue glass, though it's not impossible that they could have experimented with artificial colors. The neck and mouth are probably too straight up and down and perfectly sheared to be an 1820s flask, and the lettering is cruder and more rounded than in the real thing, not to mention being sans serif, which is wrong. <br /><br /><br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-39396010401182172182016-08-15T18:12:00.000-07:002016-08-15T18:18:06.386-07:00A Unique Bottle from Coventry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0dG3nNkYifw/V7DhT7yM6cI/AAAAAAAACB4/t4tMdfuBtFMhtz0wVQnBHt_Q_xR3lInGgCEw/s1600/coventrybottleprofile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0dG3nNkYifw/V7DhT7yM6cI/AAAAAAAACB4/t4tMdfuBtFMhtz0wVQnBHt_Q_xR3lInGgCEw/s320/coventrybottleprofile.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />The <a href="https://chs.org/">Connecticut Historical Society</a> has a collection of interesting bottles, glassware and related artifacts from the state's eighteenth and nineteenth century glass works, and one of the most important glass objects in their archive is a heavy, clear olive-green<a href="http://emuseum.chs.org/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/id/8230"> freeblown bottle</a> thought to have been made at the Coventry Glass Works. This "pinch bottle" is roughly square in cross section, pinched to fuse opposite walls of the bottle together and create wavy internal tubes at each corner, between upper and lower chambers, and two more tubes in the wall at the center of the bottle. The center tubes are narrow, and one of them looks like it might not be open all the way through. This style of bottle is known from European glass houses, but as an American and Connecticut product, this specimen is probably unique.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ua2jb29pcQg/V7DhaMAU3SI/AAAAAAAACB8/4GlrcNHw3fIrhXL17ZJLRlURSidai0iPwCEw/s1600/coventry_pinched_bottle.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ua2jb29pcQg/V7DhaMAU3SI/AAAAAAAACB8/4GlrcNHw3fIrhXL17ZJLRlURSidai0iPwCEw/s320/coventry_pinched_bottle.JPG" width="236" /></a></div><br />The Coventry pinch bottle is illustrated in <i>American Glass</i> (George and Helen McKearin, 1948) and in <i>American Bottles &amp; Flasks and Their Ancestry</i> (Helen McKearin and Kenneth Wilson, 1978). McKearin and Wilson report that bottle was recovered in the Coventry area around the time of World War I, and that it matches the description of a Coventry bottle said by Edwin Atlee Barber to have been owned by Nathaniel Root, son of the first agent of the Coventry Glass Works.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_62T_Btcbo/V7DhcYoI69I/AAAAAAAACCA/OiaFE2reGss0QlKbZACpTcx75hAGN8P6QCEw/s1600/coventrybottleside.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3_62T_Btcbo/V7DhcYoI69I/AAAAAAAACCA/OiaFE2reGss0QlKbZACpTcx75hAGN8P6QCEw/s320/coventrybottleside.JPG" width="250" /></a></div><br />An old collector's label has the inscrutable legend: B3 ARR #7 R.11.BB. I wonder if anyone still knows what any of that means?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oq-PZ5i6G2A/V7DhxWa5VQI/AAAAAAAACCM/ra80Q52hocY_7TYgzJuSCT2_WJFxPHWyQCEw/s1600/coventrybottlelip.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oq-PZ5i6G2A/V7DhxWa5VQI/AAAAAAAACCM/ra80Q52hocY_7TYgzJuSCT2_WJFxPHWyQCEw/s320/coventrybottlelip.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The lip is also peculiar for an early American bottle: sheared and tooled into an outward flare, without any applied glass. The contexts where one does see similar lip treatments is early decanters (which is, I would imagine, how this particular object was used), and nineteenth century cologne bottles.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m6xz-HDcj_c/V7DhpAOGM6I/AAAAAAAACCE/L7CMsEJ-8bcYfQrr-HDkeS8kSEORQ8yzQCEw/s1600/coventry_bottle_pontil.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m6xz-HDcj_c/V7DhpAOGM6I/AAAAAAAACCE/L7CMsEJ-8bcYfQrr-HDkeS8kSEORQ8yzQCEw/s320/coventry_bottle_pontil.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The flattened base of the probable decanter is also highly unusual, with a deeply impressed, cross-shaped pontil mark. The interior of the impression is surprisingly smooth, with only a couple of small patches of broken glass adhering from the pontil rod. Also visible in this view is a crack that traverses the bottom of the bottle and extends part way up one side. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u70L3D3ueFM/V7DhtUGaZaI/AAAAAAAACCI/BBTEADfIEwg4ayRnxnmd18WgsFdDrtT9gCEw/s1600/coventrybottlescale.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u70L3D3ueFM/V7DhtUGaZaI/AAAAAAAACCI/BBTEADfIEwg4ayRnxnmd18WgsFdDrtT9gCEw/s320/coventrybottlescale.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The Coventry pinch bottle is a crudely beautiful example of the glassblower's art, and a remarkable survival from the golden age of American glass making. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-62818945182557296572016-06-28T18:12:00.000-07:002016-08-09T13:34:04.739-07:00Heckler Auction 138<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2XCaRUkQqpU/V3HWnyQ0HKI/AAAAAAAACAo/saJSt2BHYhk2MEnt6O7apLjMJ5K5kAObQCLcB/s1600/willington_coventry_eagles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2XCaRUkQqpU/V3HWnyQ0HKI/AAAAAAAACAo/saJSt2BHYhk2MEnt6O7apLjMJ5K5kAObQCLcB/s320/willington_coventry_eagles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Connecticut eagle flasks: GII-62 and GII-71</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co.'s July online auction, <a href="http://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/138/announce/">number 138</a>, was set up for an early preview this past weekend, during their June live auction. I don't know if it was planned that way or not, but the offerings include specimens of many of the Bald Eagle themed flasks from northeastern Connecticut, just in time for Independence Day. The Coventry Glass Works eagle/eagle half-pint is a nice example, with lighter, greener glass and a cleaner impression than most.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGhSprP1ye4/V3MXL2V6fZI/AAAAAAAACBQ/jFM2_bwFyysg5-896bMywOVnTYyErfs_gCLcB/s1600/willington_eagle_gii-61.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGhSprP1ye4/V3MXL2V6fZI/AAAAAAAACBQ/jFM2_bwFyysg5-896bMywOVnTYyErfs_gCLcB/s320/willington_eagle_gii-61.JPG" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Willington Glass Co. quart eagle flask, GII-61.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xM6cDPi_Vg/V3HWnpt5JaI/AAAAAAAACAg/hSPPFsIK9jMY0nyGllIDCfhWFjrehhbbQCLcB/s1600/willington_westford_eagle_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xM6cDPi_Vg/V3HWnpt5JaI/AAAAAAAACAg/hSPPFsIK9jMY0nyGllIDCfhWFjrehhbbQCLcB/s320/willington_westford_eagle_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Willington Glass Co. eagle half-pint (GII-63) and pint (GII-62), with free blown handled jug. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Ther auction will have just about a complete set of the Willington Glass Co. eagle flasks (I'm not sure if both of the GII-63 variants were represented), which would also be a complete set of <i>all </i>the figured flasks that are thought to have been manufactured in Willington. The large quart Willi. eagle has a cooling crack in the neck (of the bottle, not the eagle); those sorts of manufacturing defects seem to be pretty common with this mold.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-helzAZm9un0/V3HWqCAKrtI/AAAAAAAACAw/vYOQ4jy-pLIu8tTlh8TDC6l5BIKO48EfACLcB/s1600/cooley_bottle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-helzAZm9un0/V3HWqCAKrtI/AAAAAAAACAw/vYOQ4jy-pLIu8tTlh8TDC6l5BIKO48EfACLcB/s320/cooley_bottle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"BY A A COOLEY</i> HARTFORD<i> CON"</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The A.A. Cooley boot-blacking bottle is thought to be a Coventry Glass Works product. These turn up for sale on a fairly regular basis, but the embossing of the letters on this bottle is especially strong.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NU6LMD8Oqnc/V3HWs42i0mI/AAAAAAAACA4/XwO2xdfyS4Mnec9K5iYfXH_mH50_lvoaACLcB/s1600/sunburst_flask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NU6LMD8Oqnc/V3HWs42i0mI/AAAAAAAACA4/XwO2xdfyS4Mnec9K5iYfXH_mH50_lvoaACLcB/s320/sunburst_flask.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pint sunburst flask, probably Pitkin Glass Works GVIII-5a.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>There will be a very nice Connecticut sunburst flask in the sale, which I believe is GVIII-5a. This is a quite a rare bottle, but unfortunately this example has a chunk knocked out of the shoulder, somewhat crudely filled in with epoxy.<br /><br />--<br />Edit to add: Heckler's listed the sunburst flask as a GVIII-7 variant, and it does have two faint dots near the shoulders on the face opposite the one in the photo. It's definitely not a proper GVIII-7, though, with the circle in the center of the sunburst only present on one side, and with fairly angular shoulders that give the whole bottle an outline that's pretty close to the Coventry GVIII-3. Norm Heckler Sr. says that he didn't quite know what to make of this bottle, which probably doesn't happen very often. &nbsp; Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-45019240955587902252016-04-17T07:32:00.000-07:002016-12-22T11:40:39.245-08:00Museum of Connecticut Glass Season Opener<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DkVzTlWi2bs/VxOVr-Tsn5I/AAAAAAAAB_E/28XBkYdZfBYneB-A5jq8OHdfQJQG8PjCgCLcB/s1600/capt.john.turner.house.coventry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DkVzTlWi2bs/VxOVr-Tsn5I/AAAAAAAAB_E/28XBkYdZfBYneB-A5jq8OHdfQJQG8PjCgCLcB/s320/capt.john.turner.house.coventry.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The John Turner House.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The Museum of Connecticut Glass started its 2016 season of open houses this weekend, with tours of the ca. 1813 house of John Turner, one of the incorporators of the Coventry Glass Works. The temperatures were a bit cool, especially inside of the Turner house, with its massive double-layered brick walls and dearth of windows on the south side, but the weather was clear and bright and turnout was good. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aerzCZxb5MU/VxOVtVXdQTI/AAAAAAAAB_I/TkTb9Esdl0AtUGUeekeVAGTxtk5UujhqwCLcB/s1600/museum-connecticut-glass-barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aerzCZxb5MU/VxOVtVXdQTI/AAAAAAAAB_I/TkTb9Esdl0AtUGUeekeVAGTxtk5UujhqwCLcB/s320/museum-connecticut-glass-barn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The MCG barn, with guests arriving.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The guests included some locals who saw the "open" signs and were curious, and also people who had traveled specifically to see the Museum. One fellow was an antique building specialist who was more interested in the Turner house itself than Connecticut glass; he was absolutely<i> ecstatic </i>to see that the structure had been stabilized, but was otherwise in mostly unrenovated condition, with 200 years of modifications and a lot of well-used grunginess. Visitors like seeing the house, but that sort of deep enthusiasm was something I hadn't encountered before.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JTIqBUnx8YM/VxOVtYY5sdI/AAAAAAAAB_M/q7yRFlWcVasjMS-lbSqpP04YIYbeAb7ewCLcB/s1600/pitkin.glassworks-bottles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JTIqBUnx8YM/VxOVtYY5sdI/AAAAAAAAB_M/q7yRFlWcVasjMS-lbSqpP04YIYbeAb7ewCLcB/s320/pitkin.glassworks-bottles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Display of early bottles, of the kind made at the Pitkin Glass Works. L-R: black glass wine bottle, chestnut bottle, Pitkin-type flask, GVIII-7 pint sunburst flask, dip molded snuff bottle.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>The display this month was glass connected with the Pitkin, Coventry and Willington glass factories, along with the more permanent collections of memorabilia and excavated shards from Coventry, and a small exhibit on the Meriden Flint Glass Company. The next open house will be May 21, 2016, in association with the Museum's annual tailgate-style bottle and glass sale.&nbsp; Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-59998485265144294512016-03-05T18:25:00.000-08:002016-03-05T18:28:01.857-08:00Heckler & Co. Auction 133, Spring 2016<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f2CSEdJ8X4w/VtoAUosxaSI/AAAAAAAAB90/4zePmXlvFjM/s1600/labeled_Pitkin_flask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f2CSEdJ8X4w/VtoAUosxaSI/AAAAAAAAB90/4zePmXlvFjM/s400/labeled_Pitkin_flask.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Large New England Pitkin-type flask, 36 rib broken swirl pattern, 7 inches tall.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;Heckler's is starting the 2016 season with one of their <a href="http://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/133/">Premier auctions</a>, which includes some spectacular Connecticut glassware. Especially notable in this auction is an abundance of very high-end Coventry Glass Works bottles, many of them from the Gary and Arlette Johnson collection. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYfahB6e-Yg/VtoAVAJGNKI/AAAAAAAAB94/sF0RVFSPzbg/s1600/pitkin_label.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYfahB6e-Yg/VtoAVAJGNKI/AAAAAAAAB94/sF0RVFSPzbg/s320/pitkin_label.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Closeup of the label on the Pitkin flask. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Included in the sale are a number of Pitkin-type flasks, the most interesting of which is the unusually large, pint-sized specimen, of New England and likely Connecticut origin, pictured here. It has an early label, reading "Bourbon Whiskey / sold by Frank R. Hadley / Druggist &amp; Chemist / New Bedford, Mass." with the monogram FRH on a fan. The label possibly isn't quite as old as the flask. Antique flasks that retain labels frequently seem to have been sold by druggists, and to have contained hard liquor or medicinal concoctions that were also mostly made of liquor.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nqeV1RzymA0/VtoATZODzWI/AAAAAAAAB9k/6ft2vkXUeLY/s1600/coventry.salt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nqeV1RzymA0/VtoATZODzWI/AAAAAAAAB9k/6ft2vkXUeLY/s320/coventry.salt.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free blown salt, likely Coventry Glass Works.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>This pontiled, free blown New England salt was probably a Coventry Glass Works product. The color and form are consistent with known Coventry tableware, but the strongest evidence of origin in this case is that the salt was recovered by a picker from an old Coventry house. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QuGfOe7LNKg/VtoATOOUyfI/AAAAAAAAB9c/-9f3W5w1pCY/s1600/Howe_syrup_bottle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QuGfOe7LNKg/VtoATOOUyfI/AAAAAAAAB9c/-9f3W5w1pCY/s320/Howe_syrup_bottle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Dr H. W. Jackson / Druggist / Vegetable / Howe Syrup," a very rare, likely Coventry, pontiled medicine bottle.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YU_1x0vj5Y/VtoATXl8GBI/AAAAAAAAB9g/zKWyfaCzlUs/s1600/clinton_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YU_1x0vj5Y/VtoATXl8GBI/AAAAAAAAB9g/zKWyfaCzlUs/s320/clinton_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Coventry "La Fayette / De Witt Clinton" flasks, GI-80 and GI-81</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYJLsfwYHDY/VtoAT9r9XCI/AAAAAAAAB9o/H8Kxks4zFxE/s1600/gi-82_lafayette_clinton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYJLsfwYHDY/VtoAT9r9XCI/AAAAAAAAB9o/H8Kxks4zFxE/s320/gi-82_lafayette_clinton.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Coventry "La Fayette / De Witt Clinton" flask, GI-82</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The trio of Lafayette - De Witt Clinton flasks is a desirable group of Coventry Glass Works bottles. The GI-82 half pint is a rare bottle in a nice, light, olive-yellow amber color, but this particular specimen has a wing of extra glass at the mold seam in the neck and such a mushy impression that most of the lettering is illegible verging on indiscernible. It's charming in its way, but must have bordered on being a factory defect to be tossed into the cullet basket. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_0yz8NidCqo/VtoAUBl6kSI/AAAAAAAAB9s/Y3GHN4K37AQ/s1600/giv-29_masonic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_0yz8NidCqo/VtoAUBl6kSI/AAAAAAAAB9s/Y3GHN4K37AQ/s320/giv-29_masonic.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Moon, star and hourglass masonic flask, GIV-29</i></td></tr></tbody></table>This auction preview was probably about as close as I'm ever going to get to two masonic flasks, probably Coventry items but rare enough that the attribution is apparently equivocal, that are not quite at the top of the price scale of antique American bottles, but are still likely to sell for more than the cost of sensible new car. The hourglass GIV-29 is extremely rare, and probably unique in this medium, nearly pure green color, according to Norm C. Heckler. The other known examples have a more olive hue. The shape of this flask is interesting, with its oval outline but finely corrugated sides, which seem like they could be a design intermediate between the earliest Connecticut sunburst and Masonic flasks with angular shoulders and bold corrugations, and later flasks like the Coventry railroad and cornucopia flasks with simpler designs that lack the horizontal ribbing. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Sr7IpbBoLg/VtoAURiPQnI/AAAAAAAAB9w/ddNf7Q606fE/s1600/giv-30_masonic_coventry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Sr7IpbBoLg/VtoAURiPQnI/AAAAAAAAB9w/ddNf7Q606fE/s320/giv-30_masonic_coventry.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Square and compass with backwards "G" / star and keys masonic flask, GIV-30. Reverse and obverse of the same specimen.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Coventry GIV-30 masonic flask is thought to be slightly less rare than the GIV-29, but is likely to bring a higher price at auction. An example in a similar light color, but severely cracked, sold for more than $4000 in a <a href="http://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/108/">recent Heckler auction</a>. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-1841777980505028842016-02-03T18:38:00.000-08:002016-02-03T18:38:11.665-08:00John Mather House<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVCs2pUunfg/Vqvc9DID4RI/AAAAAAAAB8A/S4_e8fIg7-8/s1600/matherhouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lVCs2pUunfg/Vqvc9DID4RI/AAAAAAAAB8A/S4_e8fIg7-8/s320/matherhouse.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Mather's house, January 2016</i></td></tr></tbody></table>John Mather, of the Parker Village area of Manchester (formerly East Hartford), Connecticut, was an early nineteenth century merchant and manufacturer of gunpowder and glass. The Mather Glass Works have been an object of speculation among students of early American glass for some time; they were long known only from period advertisements and brief newspaper articles. John Mather's 1827 house still stands on Mather Street, close to the site of his glass factory, though the factory seems to have ceased operations about six years before the house was built.<br /><br />The area around Mather's house and its small corner plot of land was subject to intense suburban residential and industrial development in the mid-twentieth century, and any above-ground remains of the glass works that might have existed at the time were apparently bulldozed. My own preliminary investigations of the site have turned up period glass, bricks, furnace lining and other typical glass factory waste beneath some of the back yards in the neighborhood. The shards that have turned up indicate that Mather's factory made typical New England free blown, dip molded and pattern molded glassware, but so far there has been no indication of the production of historical flasks or other glass blown in more advanced two part metal molds.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oGe9oWYDb-8/VrKxE5FT88I/AAAAAAAAB8w/1ohLn4zlafU/s1600/MHS_RussellCheney_MatherGlassHouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oGe9oWYDb-8/VrKxE5FT88I/AAAAAAAAB8w/1ohLn4zlafU/s320/MHS_RussellCheney_MatherGlassHouse.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Mather's house in a painting by Russell Cheney (1881-1945) that hangs in the Manchester Masonic Temple. Note that the giant white oak on the corner has hardly changed in the past 70 years or more. Photo via the<a href="http://www.manchesterhistory.org/reprints/MHS3_RussellCheney.html"> Manchester Historical Society</a>. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1I9mVHq6KJo/Vqvc_-1O9TI/AAAAAAAAB8I/inn-n44QUxc/s1600/pitkin_ruins_jan15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1I9mVHq6KJo/Vqvc_-1O9TI/AAAAAAAAB8I/inn-n44QUxc/s320/pitkin_ruins_jan15.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin Glass Works ruins, January 2016</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The famous Pitkin Glass Works ruins are located less than two miles south of Mather's house, but have been preserved and stabilized, and are generally much more thoroughly studied and understood than the Mather Glass Works. This spring, when the weather warms up, I hope to get back to some of the properties on Mather Street where I have received permission to excavate shards, and eventually gather enough material to write up a more formal description of the likely products of the glass works there. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-67727253522019510452015-11-12T13:20:00.000-08:002015-11-12T13:20:16.881-08:00Glass from the Liverant Collection<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vy4yzfgOwG4/VkNi-OYs0PI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3DybHTPPji8/s1600/gII-2_inkwell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vy4yzfgOwG4/VkNi-OYs0PI/AAAAAAAAB6I/3DybHTPPji8/s320/gII-2_inkwell.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-2 three-mold geometric inkwell, Coventry Glass Works.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The late Phil Liverant of Colchester, Connecticut was a respected collector of New England antiques of all kinds. Among other things, he had an impressive stash of early glass, composed in large part of Connecticut or probably Connecticut pieces. Late in October, on a stormy but unseasonably warm night, the first of three estate sales from the Liverant collection was held, possibly including the best of the bottles. A virtual who's who of New England glass collectors was in attendance, so there weren't any great bargains to be had; one described the bidding situation as "challenging." However, it was a pleasure just to see and handle some of the rarer items. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J_8122SZOq8/VkNi-p51U8I/AAAAAAAAB6Q/8OK_cWz6XIk/s1600/liverant_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J_8122SZOq8/VkNi-p51U8I/AAAAAAAAB6Q/8OK_cWz6XIk/s320/liverant_flasks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Coventry and Pitkin Glass Works flasks. GII-70 and GII-71 eagles, GVIII-18 and GVIII-5 sunbursts, two GIII-4 cornucopia/urns. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;Some excellent figured flasks were on offer, most in superb condition and a few with much stronger impressions than are usual for their molds. The pint Coventry eagle, for example, is a common bottle, but most specimens are so "whittled" that the eagles look like they've been dipped in batter and deep-fried. The mold impression here, though, is really crisp and detailed. The best of the flasks was the GVIII-5 Pitkin sunburst, in a clear olive green color and also with a very clean mold impression. McKearin and Wilson list this flask as common, but it seems to actually be fairly rare. There was some chatter during the preview about a foreign substance, possibly epoxy, on the lip that showed up under ultraviolet light, but this looked like a superficial spill of something to me, not a repair. Apparently, other bidders came to the same conclusion, and the bottle sold for over $3000. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H_ScuiK9z6c/VkNi--1WZcI/AAAAAAAAB6c/dfJBmH-5zP8/s1600/miniglobularbottle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H_ScuiK9z6c/VkNi--1WZcI/AAAAAAAAB6c/dfJBmH-5zP8/s320/miniglobularbottle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free blown globular bottles, less than two inches to about four inches high. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The October Liverant sale included four miniature globular bottles. One tiny bottle, less than two inches tall, is an especially rare thing. It was sold as part of the lot of three pictured above, and the grouping went for over $3000, despite including one bottle with a severely damaged lip, which would have been of very little value to a collector on its own. The attribution of free blown glass is an inherently dubious business, but these small bottles in light yellow olive colors, from an older eastern Connecticut collection, probably have a better chance than most of tracing back to Pitkin, Mather, Glastenbury or Coventry. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cpXbS9IsKqU/VkNi-Y68cPI/AAAAAAAAB6M/GRz1m2_Rkgw/s1600/globular_bottle_pontil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cpXbS9IsKqU/VkNi-Y68cPI/AAAAAAAAB6M/GRz1m2_Rkgw/s320/globular_bottle_pontil.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Open pontil of miniature globular bottle, ~1.8 inches tall.&nbsp;</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNnpDuXDhTI/VkNi_OmzscI/AAAAAAAAB6g/iJfPGTkiSMk/s1600/pitkin_salt_cellar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNnpDuXDhTI/VkNi_OmzscI/AAAAAAAAB6g/iJfPGTkiSMk/s320/pitkin_salt_cellar.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pattern molded Pitkin-type salt cellar, two inches in diameter, dark olive-green.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>One more object was the subject of intense interest from the antique glass crowd at the auction: a small salt cellar with faint Pitkin-type pattern molded ribbing, swirled to the left. This sort of blown glass is extremely rare; one long-time collector said that he had tried but failed to purchase this salt cellar from Phil Liverant years ago. It finally sold for about $2500, which was less than some people had predicted. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sbv70Q-jTRg/VkNi_v3fJYI/AAAAAAAAB6o/Jq2MKBT009I/s1600/saltbase.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sbv70Q-jTRg/VkNi_v3fJYI/AAAAAAAAB6o/Jq2MKBT009I/s320/saltbase.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pontiled base of the Pitkin-type salt cellar. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-48880632159380135832015-10-26T16:42:00.000-07:002015-11-11T11:31:09.745-08:00Heckler's Autumn Auctions<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LoL_0ZnuDnc/Vi1krB-Wu8I/AAAAAAAAB4w/6K2tWlpoIJU/s1600/hecklers.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LoL_0ZnuDnc/Vi1krB-Wu8I/AAAAAAAAB4w/6K2tWlpoIJU/s320/hecklers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co., October 2015.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co. auction house recently held one of their very occasional invitation-only live auctions. It was a beautiful autumn day for it, a bit on the cool side but with plenty of sun. It was peak fall foliage season for the sugar maples around the historic farm where Heckler's is located. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qKTjSkWRBgI/Vi1kfVNzJUI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/Tn6O6aehpTg/s1600/normcheckler.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qKTjSkWRBgI/Vi1kfVNzJUI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/Tn6O6aehpTg/s320/normcheckler.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Norman Heckler Sr. lays down the law on auction rules. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The turnout at the auction was pretty high, with maybe 60-70 bidders. I'm not sure what the criteria for getting an invitation were, but I suspect it was more or less "had registered for a live auction within the past couple of years." The format was similar to other live auctions I've attended, with about 130 lots, ranging from giant table lots of flea market fodder to single bottles. Most lots probably went for a couple of hundred dollars, with one large group of 19th century soda bottles fetching about $1700.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EcoC9TV3jwI/Vi1kdeQaYEI/AAAAAAAAB30/lRvlfaxgYlw/s1600/gii-62_willi_eagle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EcoC9TV3jwI/Vi1kdeQaYEI/AAAAAAAAB30/lRvlfaxgYlw/s320/gii-62_willi_eagle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-62 Willington Glass Co. eagle, pint flask.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The selection of old Connecticut glass was a bit limited compared to typical Heckler sales. There were several different Willington eagle flasks, including the nice GII-62 above, which was tempting. The Pitkin-type flask below was an odd one, described as Midwestern by the auctioneers because of the color and relatively rounded, broad shoulders. The overall tall, skinny oval form is a little suggestive of New England Pitkins, however, with Midwestern examples tending to be closer to round. It's also worth noting that there is good evidence from glass works excavations and the distribution of 20th century bottle finds that what collectors call "Midwestern Pitkins" <a href="http://americanglassgallery.com/files/agg-auctions/AGG-7-lo.pdf">actually were made at very early Mid-Atlantic factories</a>. In any case, this was a lovely old bottle that went for not much money, because of a faint crack in the lip. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_7lpoWW_-VU/Vi1ke3GYX2I/AAAAAAAAB4M/hOpRJZ5_3S0/s1600/midatlantic_pitkin.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_7lpoWW_-VU/Vi1ke3GYX2I/AAAAAAAAB4M/hOpRJZ5_3S0/s320/midatlantic_pitkin.JPG" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin-type flask, 32 ribs, swirled to the right, pint size, 6 3/4 inches tall.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XeXw7zu9KTY/Vi1keBNubBI/AAAAAAAAB38/3MDbZk3PNrs/s1600/heckler_auction_preview.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XeXw7zu9KTY/Vi1keBNubBI/AAAAAAAAB38/3MDbZk3PNrs/s320/heckler_auction_preview.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Heckler's absentee auction preview shed.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Heckler's also had their November absentee auction up for preview. This will be one of their "select" auctions, with bottles that are nice, but generally not quite as fancy as would wind up in a "premier" auction. There were some good items from Connecticut glass houses, as well as some Connecticut/New England items that are difficult to pin down to a specific origin, like a pair of small Pitkin-type flasks, one with very well-defined ribbing and one with very soft, fuzzy pattern-molding. There is an especially large selection of Coventry Glass Works flasks with bolder impressions than are usually seen from their respective molds.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2P9os8psX28/Vi1ked_H2vI/AAAAAAAAB4A/66WaIQ2q2pM/s1600/coventry_eagle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2P9os8psX28/Vi1ked_H2vI/AAAAAAAAB4A/66WaIQ2q2pM/s320/coventry_eagle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GII-70 Coventry Glass Works eagle pint, in the upcoming autumn absentee auction, as are all the other bottles pictured in the rest of this post.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i763ZcfbdXg/Vi1keX3eYPI/AAAAAAAAB4E/N3uOw1Pmnbw/s1600/lafayette_covetry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i763ZcfbdXg/Vi1keX3eYPI/AAAAAAAAB4E/N3uOw1Pmnbw/s320/lafayette_covetry.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GI-85 "LaFayette/Covetry/C-T"; liberty cap pint flask. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hXXJvCVGGJ0/Vi1kfpZSD8I/AAAAAAAAB4c/AbJHHLDBIgY/s1600/success_railroad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hXXJvCVGGJ0/Vi1kfpZSD8I/AAAAAAAAB4c/AbJHHLDBIgY/s320/success_railroad.JPG" width="218" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GV-6 "Success to the Rail Road" Coventry pint flask.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-48sMd-uMNiM/Vi1kq1sd8xI/AAAAAAAAB4s/S4n4egLXWVg/s1600/railroad_lowell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-48sMd-uMNiM/Vi1kq1sd8xI/AAAAAAAAB4s/S4n4egLXWVg/s320/railroad_lowell.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GV-10 "Railroad Lowell" Coventry half-pint flask.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TIu5dlYvhys/Vi1leoA-dzI/AAAAAAAAB5A/EhEH6_97LCA/s1600/willington_insulator.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TIu5dlYvhys/Vi1leoA-dzI/AAAAAAAAB5A/EhEH6_97LCA/s320/willington_insulator.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Reversed "Patent" electrical insulator, probably Willington Glass Co. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-61546989080922692072015-09-15T14:38:00.000-07:002015-09-15T14:38:33.519-07:00Pitkin Display at the Old Manchester Museum<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4yItSdP3M-A/VfgUDRdM3NI/AAAAAAAAB0s/spoQ0c-K_k4/s1600/pitkintypeflask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4yItSdP3M-A/VfgUDRdM3NI/AAAAAAAAB0s/spoQ0c-K_k4/s320/pitkintypeflask.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin-type flask, decanter and utility bottles possibly made at the Pitkin Glass Works. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The <a href="http://www.manchesterhistory.org/MHS3_Old_Manch_Museum.html">Old Manchester Museum</a>, located on Cedar Street in Manchester Connecticut, is home to quite a nice educational display dealing with the Pitkin Glass Works. It includes bottles that are attributed with varying degrees of certainty to Pitkin, as well as associated artifacts, photographs, modern commemorative items and paintings, all labelled with useful explanations and donor information. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rs29Ll3YQL4/VfgUC-Cm4yI/AAAAAAAAB0o/UBbSNxl3aMo/s1600/old_manchester_museum.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rs29Ll3YQL4/VfgUC-Cm4yI/AAAAAAAAB0o/UBbSNxl3aMo/s320/old_manchester_museum.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Museum building. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The Old Manchester Museum is operated by the Manchester Historical Society, and is currently open only one afternoon per month, on the second Sunday, although school group tours occur at other times and it is possible to arrange for special access. Exhibits include areas focusing on town schools, local sports figures, Bon Ami soap (based for a time in Manchester), the once extensive silk industry, quarries and dinosaur fossils, and the Spencer Repeating Rifle, the world's first practical multi-shot rifle, which was invented in Manchester and proved instrumental in winning the Civil War for the Union. All of this was informative, but I was mainly there for the Pitkin display. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ACmLeIEoT5o/VfgUIoCVyEI/AAAAAAAAB04/CV5OaqvSqps/s1600/pitkinglassworkslock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ACmLeIEoT5o/VfgUIoCVyEI/AAAAAAAAB04/CV5OaqvSqps/s320/pitkinglassworkslock.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Museum has the massive iron lock to the glass factory door.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrY2yQfKi1Y/VfgUKJjAoTI/AAAAAAAAB1A/Ed3APpZ3Q4w/s1600/pitkin%2Bdemijohn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrY2yQfKi1Y/VfgUKJjAoTI/AAAAAAAAB1A/Ed3APpZ3Q4w/s320/pitkin%2Bdemijohn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A free blown demijohn, 2-3 gallon capacity, donated in 1991 by Hazel Cooper. According to Cooper, this bottle was blown at the Pitkin Glass Works and passed down by descendants of the Pitkin family. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMj02HbKE78/VfgUQV9jrVI/AAAAAAAAB1I/GHXrq5TRe60/s1600/jpfinkwell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMj02HbKE78/VfgUQV9jrVI/AAAAAAAAB1I/GHXrq5TRe60/s320/jpfinkwell.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A "J.P.F." mold-blown inkwell, known from archaeological evidence to be a Pitkin product.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KiqeLrDzFHA/VfgUS68k5RI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/3-ZDGPq07bM/s1600/pitkin_miniflask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KiqeLrDzFHA/VfgUS68k5RI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/3-ZDGPq07bM/s320/pitkin_miniflask.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A miniature free blown chestnut flask, 1.8 inches high, side and bottom views. This flask was excavated by middle school students working with Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni at the Pitkin ruins, on May 14, 2003. This is truly a unique item, both in terms of its tiny size and impeccable Pitkin attribution. It also seems to be extremely unusual to find intact glassware actually on the site of an old glass factory. A 2012 <a href="http://www.manchesterhistory.org/reprints/MHS3_PitkinGlassDig.html">article </a>in the Manchester Journal Inquirer recounts collectors at the time of the dig offering $5,000, and then $20,000, for this odd little bottle, which has fortunately remained on public display. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LbNl4sqOeic/VfgUVKpmXVI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/GVlZdLhNS1A/s1600/pitkin_pontil_shards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LbNl4sqOeic/VfgUVKpmXVI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/GVlZdLhNS1A/s320/pitkin_pontil_shards.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Some shards from the Pitkin Glass Works site, with the pontiled base of a big free blown bottle in light blue-green, almost aquamarine, glass at left, and the base of an olive-green figured flask at right. The figured flask fragment included just a few non-distinctive portions of ribbed sides, and could be from any of a number of molds, such as one of the pint Pitkin sunbursts. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rkP3V6ElbmA/VfgUXDERHWI/AAAAAAAAB1g/MsLJ-tbIhEU/s1600/ecavation_photos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rkP3V6ElbmA/VfgUXDERHWI/AAAAAAAAB1g/MsLJ-tbIhEU/s320/ecavation_photos.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photographs of archaeological digs at the Pitkin site, with images of the miniature chestnut flask</i> in situ. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twY16ixfbow/VfgUbflxcoI/AAAAAAAAB1o/hpne7KYEMmI/s1600/john_knoll_pitkinphoto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twY16ixfbow/VfgUbflxcoI/AAAAAAAAB1o/hpne7KYEMmI/s320/john_knoll_pitkinphoto.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Early 20th century photograph of children playing on the Pitkin ruins, by John Knoll (1887-1955). </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BRvMGHJeaw/VfgUcxtDswI/AAAAAAAAB1w/7EyZ8NaAYVU/s1600/ruins_painting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BRvMGHJeaw/VfgUcxtDswI/AAAAAAAAB1w/7EyZ8NaAYVU/s320/ruins_painting.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>1965 oil painting of the Pitkin Glass Works by Nora Addy Drake, who also painted the (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zippy/176494719">charmingly weird</a>) murals at the nearby Shady Glen cheeseburger and milkshake joints.</i> </td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;Admission to the Old Manchester Museum is by donation ($5 suggested). It's well worth a trip if you can catch the Museum during its open hours, particularly if you are interested in the rich lore surrounding what is perhaps America's most storied early glass factory. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rs29Ll3YQL4/VfgUC-Cm4yI/AAAAAAAAB0o/UBbSNxl3aMo/s1600/old_manchester_museum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-38530466338728479862015-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:002015-10-01T17:43:28.494-07:00Museum of Connecticut Glass August Open House<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R1CglivLvbQ/VdCTyoCoQpI/AAAAAAAABy8/ymj53M1kqWE/s1600/willington_pickle_bottles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R1CglivLvbQ/VdCTyoCoQpI/AAAAAAAABy8/ymj53M1kqWE/s320/willington_pickle_bottles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Set of the three sizes of Willington pickle bottles. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;This weekend there was another open house at the Museum of Connecticut Glass in Coventry. The weather was hot, sunny and humid, and this time of year half of the local population is probably on vacation at some mountain lake or Cape Cod beach house, so attendance was apparently down from previous events. Still, there was a pretty steady flow of visitors through the Museum. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3T3xu7s-rA/VdCT0nxK1pI/AAAAAAAABzE/6xbXGhaSLao/s1600/turner_house_mopel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3T3xu7s-rA/VdCT0nxK1pI/AAAAAAAABzE/6xbXGhaSLao/s320/turner_house_mopel.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Me in the Captain John Turner house, with some of the displays. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The displays this time included figured flasks and other glass from eastern Connecticut glass works, with quite a few Coventry flasks that were of special interest to some of the neighbors of the Museum who stopped in at one point. The exhibit area in the Turner house stayed pleasantly cool for most of the day; the brick walls were constructed in an old English style and are very thick, so the building takes some time to heat up even on a sunny mid-August day. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HO64Un5ygLM/VdCT5OM9QoI/AAAAAAAABzM/wQuNr6BK9oU/s1600/willington_westford_utilities.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HO64Un5ygLM/VdCT5OM9QoI/AAAAAAAABzM/wQuNr6BK9oU/s320/willington_westford_utilities.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Amber utility bottles: the whiskey cylinder (middle left) is embossed "Willington Glass Works," the demijohns and beer bottle are in the style of Willington glass, but could be from Westford or elsewhere in New England. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The Willington Glass Company had an extraordinarily long run, from 1815 to 1872, so it is somewhat surprising that the types of glassware that can be attributed to Willington with any degree of confidence are quite limited, and mostly date to the final 20-30 years of the company's operations. There are the well-known square cathedral pickle bottles, a couple of base-embossed cylindrical whiskey bottles, some late figured flasks with simplistic eagle designs, an electrical insulator, one variant of a sarsaparilla bottle, as well as paneled blueberry bottles and a few other styles of utilities that are generally associated with Willington. That's about it, aside from a few individual items linked to Willington by family tradition, for whatever that's worth. It seems as if for much of the history of the factory, production was dominated by generic unmarked demijohns, snuff bottles, beers, flasks etc., of types that could also have easily been made at any of a number of other New England glass works. It would be interesting if future archaeological investigations at the site could find evidence of other distinctive Willington products; one wonders if some of the early, pre-1840 figured flasks of unknown origin might have been made there.&nbsp; Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-1183688028720446872015-08-12T18:03:00.000-07:002015-08-12T18:13:41.954-07:00Sandwich Glass Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWIIAe_xtDA/Vcu9HjwaUEI/AAAAAAAABxs/uiIpwGve5Yo/s1600/sandwich_glass_museum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWIIAe_xtDA/Vcu9HjwaUEI/AAAAAAAABxs/uiIpwGve5Yo/s320/sandwich_glass_museum.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />I was out on Cape Cod for the weekend earlier this month, and had a chance to visit the <a href="http://www.sandwichglassmuseum.org/">Sandwich Glass Museum</a>. The Boston and Sandwich Glass Company (1825-1904, in various incarnations) is a bit outside of the scope of this blog, and outside of my own core antique glass competencies, but the museum was impressive and seemed worthy of a post.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ISCFVHzHm10/Vcu9JbNLY5I/AAAAAAAABx0/ZHSxI25MvKA/s1600/sandwich_3mold.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ISCFVHzHm10/Vcu9JbNLY5I/AAAAAAAABx0/ZHSxI25MvKA/s320/sandwich_3mold.JPG" width="233" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Three mold decanters, hat-shaped salt cellars and more. Yes, there is apparently period documentation indicating that glass hat "whimseys," at least the Sandwich ones, were originally intended to hold table salt.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Almost all of the output from Boston and Sandwich was lead glass (a.k.a. flint glass or crystal), made with very pure silica sand imported from New Jersey, New York and the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. This recipe yielded a clear, perfectly colorless glass, that was used as-is to make some items, but frequently doped with metal salts to create a range of artificial colors. The Museum included an entertaining display with audio and some animatronic elements to explain the process of making colored glass. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSoOORT0AFw/Vcu9Kp_sXBI/AAAAAAAABx8/bKYggaGp1tg/s1600/sandwich_colognes_pomade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSoOORT0AFw/Vcu9Kp_sXBI/AAAAAAAABx8/bKYggaGp1tg/s320/sandwich_colognes_pomade.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Classic Sandwich Glass cologne bottles, bear-shaped pomade jars and whale oil lamps. Note the wooden pattern used to create the metal mold for a paneled cologne bottle, at upper left. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkApBSekNko/Vcu9L2sPHjI/AAAAAAAAByE/i96_6HJ-gZ4/s1600/sandwich_paperweights.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkApBSekNko/Vcu9L2sPHjI/AAAAAAAAByE/i96_6HJ-gZ4/s320/sandwich_paperweights.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A case full of Sandwich paperweights, including some leftover glass flower parts that were never embedded. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l7Kw4vhma8s/Vcu9NII9XVI/AAAAAAAAByM/TFLjbD7qr1I/s1600/sandwich_threaded.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l7Kw4vhma8s/Vcu9NII9XVI/AAAAAAAAByM/TFLjbD7qr1I/s320/sandwich_threaded.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Refined and delicate threaded glass tableware. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3lAFl3YLBqY/Vcu9PGoB6cI/AAAAAAAAByU/SNdyLYnDLSg/s1600/sandwichvases.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3lAFl3YLBqY/Vcu9PGoB6cI/AAAAAAAAByU/SNdyLYnDLSg/s320/sandwichvases.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An imposing window display of larger Sandwich Glass items, including celery vases, lamps, bowls and candlesticks. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XVZH7QhSoEA/Vcu9RCDxdnI/AAAAAAAAByc/rYrRJ7tdBk0/s1600/sandwich_shards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XVZH7QhSoEA/Vcu9RCDxdnI/AAAAAAAAByc/rYrRJ7tdBk0/s320/sandwich_shards.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Shards excavated at the factory site, with interpretive signs matching them to extant antique glassware.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1cgr5tG7ORA/Vcu9SxVt7KI/AAAAAAAAByk/2k_FKQaFNu4/s1600/pressed_glass_demo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1cgr5tG7ORA/Vcu9SxVt7KI/AAAAAAAAByk/2k_FKQaFNu4/s320/pressed_glass_demo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>That's me working the press at the glassmaking demonstration area. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>In addition to extensive displays of antique glass, a modern glass gallery, and special exhibits on various aspects of the workings of the glass factory at Sandwich, the Museum also has a functioning furnace for glass blowing. The gas-fired furnace is run continuously for years at a time, as it takes weeks to come up to temperature if it is shut down for maintenance. There is a single pot of glass inside, which the staff used to make a whimsey, a free blown tumbler and a pressed glass plate, all formed using traditional tools and techniques.<br /><br />The Sandwich Glass Museum is a really impressive and informative source of information on nineteenth century glassmaking in Massachusetts. At some point in the future, I would hope that the <a href="http://www.glassmuseum.org/index.htm">Museum of Connecticut Glass</a> could be developed to a similar level of excellence. <br /><br /><span id="goog_1673282533"></span><span id="goog_1673282534"></span><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-34381073970293182752015-07-19T16:39:00.002-07:002015-07-19T16:42:32.944-07:00Westford Bottles Auctioned<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CrXt8R-RJ2c/VawfSy7PtCI/AAAAAAAABvg/AEKceXDDDsY/s1600/hecklers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CrXt8R-RJ2c/VawfSy7PtCI/AAAAAAAABvg/AEKceXDDDsY/s320/hecklers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Co. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Norman C. Heckler &amp; Company, in Woodstock, Connecticut, is the specialist auction house most closely associated with glass from the Quiet Corner, because of geography and the expertise of the company's founder. This summer, Heckler's is liquidating the collection of Ralph Fletcher, a specialist in the Westford Glass Company and also owner of the property that includes the site of the glass works in Westford (a village in Ashford, Ct). There are a bunch of Westford pieces being offered in the<a href="http://www.hecklerauction.com/auctions/125/"> current online Heckler's auction</a>, and more coming up in future sales. Here are a few highlights.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ8GTrHjB50/VawiLKhCMkI/AAAAAAAABvs/kl9ROed1XR0/s1600/GXIII-37_westford_flask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZ8GTrHjB50/VawiLKhCMkI/AAAAAAAABvs/kl9ROed1XR0/s320/GXIII-37_westford_flask.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GXIII-37 half pint sheaf-of-wheat / "Westford Glass Co Westford Conn" flask. A common flask, but almost unheard of with a sheared lip rather than a tooled applied collar. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf7IgrxSoRw/VawiSl-NTsI/AAAAAAAABv0/Tiwh_QswnZo/s1600/westford_demijohn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sf7IgrxSoRw/VawiSl-NTsI/AAAAAAAABv0/Tiwh_QswnZo/s320/westford_demijohn.JPG" width="231" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Demijohn blown in a three piece mold with a beveled base, a form associated with the Westford Glass Co. The colors of glass produced at Westford are overwhelmingly dominated by amber, so this blue-green example is unusual, possibly suggesting that this particular bottle was made at the Willington Glass Co., which made a broader range of colors (in addition to also making a whole lot of murky dark amber glass). </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNaY0aBD5hY/VawiapyMR4I/AAAAAAAABv8/KWR2UphdsHs/s1600/westford_freeblown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tNaY0aBD5hY/VawiapyMR4I/AAAAAAAABv8/KWR2UphdsHs/s320/westford_freeblown.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free blown flask with sheared lip and sheared or pontiled base. Made of very heavy, dark olive amber glass and attributed to Westford by Fletcher. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i1PSi7UKFRI/Vawid4d8k_I/AAAAAAAABwE/4OQwu4nxCw0/s1600/hoxie_beer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i1PSi7UKFRI/Vawid4d8k_I/AAAAAAAABwE/4OQwu4nxCw0/s320/hoxie_beer.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Geo. W. Hoxsie's Premium Beer" bottles are generally thought to have been manufactured at Westford.&nbsp; </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sImt75eeLl4/VawinOfe_OI/AAAAAAAABwM/rNnuY4kDfTM/s1600/westford_bottles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sImt75eeLl4/VawinOfe_OI/AAAAAAAABwM/rNnuY4kDfTM/s320/westford_bottles.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>More dark amber beer bottles, cylinder whiskey bottles and demijohns in styles and colors that are linked to Westford. These less valuable bottles are to be sold at Heckler's August live auction.&nbsp;</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwydTz2M_uc/VawisP-Ox8I/AAAAAAAABwU/mXK0MntmGlA/s1600/westford_beers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IwydTz2M_uc/VawisP-Ox8I/AAAAAAAABwU/mXK0MntmGlA/s320/westford_beers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A case of unembossed Hoxsie-style beer bottles, also maybe of Westford origin and destined for the August live auction. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-53768355803886907772015-06-21T07:40:00.001-07:002015-06-21T07:43:06.242-07:00Museum of Connecticut Glass Open House<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F02O1-cZzb0/VYa-QyliPJI/AAAAAAAABuA/NTB1BsY8vPM/s1600/museum_ct_glass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F02O1-cZzb0/VYa-QyliPJI/AAAAAAAABuA/NTB1BsY8vPM/s320/museum_ct_glass.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Free blown and dip mold New England glass. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />&nbsp;The Museum of Connecticut Glass held one of its monthly open houses this weekend. The Museum has a very limited, all-volunteer staff, but they are trying to have regular public educational events and shows during the warmer months. The main event for June was a spectacular display of early glassware and bottles from the collection of Tom Marshal. Tom has been acquiring his glass since the 1980s, and focuses on primitive free blown bottles and tableware, particularly forms and colors that can be associated with Connecticut, or at least the general New England area. Many of these objects are quite unusual and rare, and it was a treat to see so many in one place. Tom and other Museum volunteers gave informative talks about antique glass and glassmaking, and there was also a bottle sales area set up to benefit the Museum. <br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4zEocbVV8NA/VYa-WcVuYyI/AAAAAAAABuI/W7pehQ4BoVc/s1600/glassmuseum_barn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4zEocbVV8NA/VYa-WcVuYyI/AAAAAAAABuI/W7pehQ4BoVc/s320/glassmuseum_barn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bruce Mitchell and Alan Lagocki talk about glass making and early glass factories in Connecticut in the Museum's barn display area. The famous $3 bottle tables are by the window, with some real bargains to be had. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTQWdfjscx4/VYa-jEFd3VI/AAAAAAAABuQ/F_wNSVW-W9E/s1600/freeblown_ct_glass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sTQWdfjscx4/VYa-jEFd3VI/AAAAAAAABuQ/F_wNSVW-W9E/s320/freeblown_ct_glass.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>More of Tom Marshal's pre-1840 Connecticut-ish tableware, utilities and unique "end-of-day" items, in the kitchen window of the Capt. John Turner house. </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IaTc8AyJkpc/VYa-sCBKlNI/AAAAAAAABug/NpzEC5vKwao/s1600/meriden_flint_glass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IaTc8AyJkpc/VYa-sCBKlNI/AAAAAAAABug/NpzEC5vKwao/s320/meriden_flint_glass.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A small display of later 19th and early 20th Century decorative glass, mostly made by the Meriden Flint Glass Company, from Bruce Mitchell's collection. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GJNZU7jbDQ/VYa-nzrhXDI/AAAAAAAABuY/CHefCKmHM9E/s1600/pitkin_inkwells.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1GJNZU7jbDQ/VYa-nzrhXDI/AAAAAAAABuY/CHefCKmHM9E/s320/pitkin_inkwells.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Freeblown and pattern molded inkwells, attributable to the Pitkin Glass Works or possibly other contemporaneous Connecticut factories. The "Pitkin hat" at left is a bit cracked, but one of the few known examples of an exceedingly rare and desirable end-of-day type item. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-26005731452515947912015-06-14T06:43:00.000-07:002015-06-15T10:21:47.347-07:00Awesome Seventeen-Eighties Work Escape Wayback Weekend<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xd0L1nQrAS0/VXzfyF0SbQI/AAAAAAAABsA/djT6J2SWzuw/s1600/pitkin_ruins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xd0L1nQrAS0/VXzfyF0SbQI/AAAAAAAABsA/djT6J2SWzuw/s320/pitkin_ruins.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Pitkin Glass Works ruins.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The 1783~1830 Pitkin Glass Works ruins were open to the public this weekend, in conjunction with Manchester Pride Week and the Connecticut tourism open house day. It was a rare chance to see the ruins up close, although they are located in a residential neighborhood and can be viewed from the street over a fence at any time. The Pitkin factory is the oldest of Connecticut's glass works, and also, by some fluke of history, the only early Connecticut glass factory where significant portions of the factory building itself are still standing (there are still some visible foundations at the site of the Westford Glass Company, but all of the other factories have been completely leveled). <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qkeEXINKpN4/VXzf64xFV5I/AAAAAAAABsI/DvAb_suj5fA/s1600/pitkin_soil.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qkeEXINKpN4/VXzf64xFV5I/AAAAAAAABsI/DvAb_suj5fA/s320/pitkin_soil.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Waste glass drips and broken bottles in a bald spot in the lawn on the Pitkin grounds. The glass is mostly olive-green-amber, but notice the two light blue-green shards at center, examples of an uncommon but legitimate Pitkin color. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Even on the surface of the soil around the ruins there are occasional pieces of glass and other factory waste. Early glass works were pretty messy affairs, apparently, and Pitkin debris can be found all around the area. Several neighbors stopped in during the open house to talk to the staff of the Manchester Historical Society and donate pieces of glass that they had unearthed when gardening or having old oil tanks removed. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztc85tqj-sM/VXzgBqbNGhI/AAAAAAAABsQ/KKpxRg8EyGU/s1600/pitkin_excavation.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztc85tqj-sM/VXzgBqbNGhI/AAAAAAAABsQ/KKpxRg8EyGU/s320/pitkin_excavation.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Excavations inside the walls of the factory ruins, with some possible foundation stones exposed. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>A number of archaeological digs have been conducted at the Pitkin Glass Works, including extensive investigations by Fredrick Warner and his students from Central Connecticut State University in 1984 (summarized in <i>A History of the Pitkin Glass Works</i> by William E. Buckley), as well as more recent and <a href="http://www.pitkinglassworks.org/excavations.html">ongoing excavations</a> carried out by Manchester middle school students. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOxhnRV3SQk/VXzgLPgLbuI/AAAAAAAABsY/R4nEyEe800s/s1600/pitkin_bricks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kOxhnRV3SQk/VXzgLPgLbuI/AAAAAAAABsY/R4nEyEe800s/s320/pitkin_bricks.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stones and old bricks exposed by school group excavations. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>The walls of the Pitkin factory building are primarily made of grey gneiss. The local bedrock in most of Manchester is Triassic sedimentary "red beds" and basalt, so construction materials were probably carted in, perhaps from the quarries at Bolton Notch, east of Manchester. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLCbgO-k31E/VXzgRwPLufI/AAAAAAAABsg/nfe1oal2Cxs/s1600/pitkin_shards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLCbgO-k31E/VXzgRwPLufI/AAAAAAAABsg/nfe1oal2Cxs/s320/pitkin_shards.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Artifacts excavated at the Pitkin site by Tom Duff. Two pontiled bases of Pitkin-type pattern molded flasks in olive green; the side of an umbrella inkwell in dark olive amber; and a large fragment of a ceramic pot for melting glass. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Archaeological excavations at glass factory sites provide some of the strongest evidence for attributing particular products to a given glass works. Pitkin-type flasks, with swirled or broken swirl pattern-molded embossings and blown in the German half-post method, are indeed fairly abundantly represented among shards from the Pitkin Glass Works. Extremely similar flasks were also blown at other contemporaneous New England glass works, however. Tom Duff has an interesting shard in his collection of Pitkin materials, picked up near the ruins many years ago, that is clearly from a Coventry Lafayette figured flask. Glass factories incorporate old broken glass, or cullet, into new batches to hasten melting, so the Lafayette shard was probably left behind from a pile of broken bottles collected from the community for recycling. Care must be taken when interpreting finds from factory sites; clear patterns certainly emerge and provide solid links between certain types of bottles and certain factories where multiple fragments of those bottles have been recovered, but odd one-off shards could be misleading. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGc482BhUdY/VXzgYllO2jI/AAAAAAAABso/HWoA9nBLOxo/s1600/bottle_display.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AGc482BhUdY/VXzgYllO2jI/AAAAAAAABso/HWoA9nBLOxo/s320/bottle_display.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tom Duff's display of glass factory tools and New England bottles representative of the likely products of the Pitkin Glass Works. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>Representatives of the Manchester Historical Society and the Pitkin Glass Works organization were on hand to answer questions, with displays of bottles and other artifacts. Tom Duff brought in Pitkin-type flasks and inkwells, as well as figured flasks, case gin bottles and other glassware typical of the goods that were likely produced by Pitkin. He also had blow pipes and other glass house tools, including a ribbed iron mold used to make pattern molded glass, along with a modern teal-colored Pitkin-type flask blown in his mold by <a href="http://www.pairpoint.com/">Pairpoint Glass</a> on Cape Cod. The 32 rib mold was recovered from a warehouse in New Jersey, but could conceivably be an eighteenth or early nineteenth century antique from New England. <br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-37004642932516417532015-06-04T18:05:00.000-07:002015-06-04T18:05:20.479-07:00Lafayette Flask Mold<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MSRoTwKlwTs/VW-ipxZ-8oI/AAAAAAAABro/J71tLz-Clu4/s1600/lafayette_mold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MSRoTwKlwTs/VW-ipxZ-8oI/AAAAAAAABro/J71tLz-Clu4/s320/lafayette_mold.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GI-85 "La Fayette Covetry C-T" / liberty cap flask, with mold. Photograph copyright 2002 <a href="http://www.cmog.org/artwork/mold-half-flasks?image=1">Corning Museum of Glass</a>. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The early Connecticut figured flasks were among the first bottles that were blown in two part metal molds, which allowed for complex designs and inscriptions that were impossible with more primitive dip molded or pattern molded glass.&nbsp; It was once thought that none of the molds used to make figured flasks had survived to modern times, presumably all having been scrapped and melted down. However, in the 1980s, half of the mold for the Coventry Glass Works pint Lafayette / liberty cap flask was discovered in the Willimantic River in Mansfield Depot, Connecticut, near the Coventry town line. The mold is brass, with some cast iron components, and is in surprisingly good condition for something that had been sitting in a river bed for 150 years.&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qwSYQuZilhM/VW-eoHbrIjI/AAAAAAAABrU/BLm0RAT0M2Q/s1600/willimantic_river.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qwSYQuZilhM/VW-eoHbrIjI/AAAAAAAABrU/BLm0RAT0M2Q/s320/willimantic_river.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Willimantic River, looking north from Route 44 in Mansfield</i></td></tr></tbody></table>The location where the mold half was recovered was near where Route 44, the old Middle Turnpike, crosses the Willimantic river. According to Noel Tomas of the Museum of Connecticut Glass, people have been back with metal detectors and thoroughly searched the area, but they were unable to find the other half. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D1tyKyQNGl0/VW-ewZSY7cI/AAAAAAAABrc/Wjn-nKD-78M/s1600/mansfield_coventry_line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D1tyKyQNGl0/VW-ewZSY7cI/AAAAAAAABrc/Wjn-nKD-78M/s320/mansfield_coventry_line.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Coventry / Mansfield town line, on the west side of the river. </i></td></tr></tbody></table>It's interesting to think about how the GI-85 mold escaped recycling, only to wind up getting thrown into a river. The site where the mold was found is only about two miles east of the Coventry Glass Works district, and both locations are right on the Middle Turnpike, the major thoroughfare through the area at the time the glass factory was active. Was it carelessness, or petty sabotage by a disgruntled employee? Was the mold dumped during the 1820s, or long afterwards when someone was cleaning old junk out of their basement? What happened to the other half of the mold? There is probably no way of knowing the answer to most of these questions. It's just possible that the rest of the mold will turn up some day, though: the Willimantic River gets fairly wide and deep just downstream of the Middle Turnpike, for example, and could conceal all sorts of things in its muddy bed. Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-10909431269378135492015-05-10T07:02:00.002-07:002015-06-17T05:38:11.237-07:00Coventry Bottle Show 2015&nbsp;It was perfect weather for an outdoor glass event in Coventry this weekend. The Museum of Connecticut Glass held its annual Antique Glass and Bottle Show &amp; Sale on its property in the National Historic Glass Factory District, and there was a strong turnout from dealers and bottle enthusiasts from around the Northeast. There was a solid range of glass available for sale, from the $3 donation table for the Museum, to some big money flasks. I picked up a nice light-colored Coventry GII-18 geometric three-mold inkwell, with a bit of damage but at a fair price. Several tours were held, of Glass Museum exhibits in the 1935 barn on the sales field, as well as the 1814 Captain John Turner house across the street. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F80lL-YY6OM/VU9Zahg-oGI/AAAAAAAABoM/Zl2YKWe5M8M/s1600/coventry_bottle_show_2015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F80lL-YY6OM/VU9Zahg-oGI/AAAAAAAABoM/Zl2YKWe5M8M/s320/coventry_bottle_show_2015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Duff, Pitkin Glass Works expert, at his sales table. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lp937Vj7HHY/VU9ZgZU3zKI/AAAAAAAABoU/2c4y3PzxTEk/s1600/bottle_dealers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lp937Vj7HHY/VU9ZgZU3zKI/AAAAAAAABoU/2c4y3PzxTEk/s320/bottle_dealers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some nice figured flasks in the dealers' field, mostly New Hampshire stuff in the foreground here, but also a few Connecticut bottles. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rj96gs22VVE/VU9Ztt0a1MI/AAAAAAAABoc/wGQ79ApPhyI/s1600/turner%2Bhouse%2Btour.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rj96gs22VVE/VU9Ztt0a1MI/AAAAAAAABoc/wGQ79ApPhyI/s320/turner%2Bhouse%2Btour.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susan Barlow of the Manchester Historical Society and junior Museum board member Nick Wrobleski talk to a tour group outside of the Turner house. </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AtX1AOFf-A0/VU9Zyt017qI/AAAAAAAABok/bjT6k0pxSVk/s1600/matherglassdisplay.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AtX1AOFf-A0/VU9Zyt017qI/AAAAAAAABok/bjT6k0pxSVk/s320/matherglassdisplay.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the displays inside the house: Nick's Coventry shards, and my exhibit of artifacts from the site of the poorly-known ca. 1805 Mather Glass Works. The shards, slag and furnace pieces are Mather, but the intact bottles are of general New England origin, intended to illustrate the type of items that were probably blown by Mather.&nbsp; </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q82CLO5ZEZk/VU9Z5GrpAxI/AAAAAAAABos/ovVHBr0l0PE/s1600/hplovecraft_ale.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q82CLO5ZEZk/VU9Z5GrpAxI/AAAAAAAABos/ovVHBr0l0PE/s320/hplovecraft_ale.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the show I discovered this funny Rhode Island brew at the package store down the street. I am Providence? </td></tr></tbody></table><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-80578951656677837522015-04-23T17:26:00.000-07:002015-04-23T17:26:04.922-07:00The Mattatuck Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">&nbsp;The <a href="http://www.mattatuckmuseum.org/">Mattatuck Museum</a> in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut specializes in the industrial history of the "Brass City," and also has notable collections from Connecticut artists as well as antique furniture. They also hold one of the best public collections of early Connecticut glass. It's not a huge location, and part of the building is closed for renovations at the moment, so only a fraction of the collections are on display at any given time, but there were still some remarkable bottles to be seen on my recent visit.&nbsp; </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HGeHL9AVtkc/VTbvm5MdyHI/AAAAAAAABnk/ruSWEKTAgJQ/s1600/j.p.f.inkwell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HGeHL9AVtkc/VTbvm5MdyHI/AAAAAAAABnk/ruSWEKTAgJQ/s1600/j.p.f.inkwell.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inkwells: GII-29 three mold and "J.P.F."</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;One of the current displays at the Mattatuck Museum is of documents and signatures from famous figures in 18th and 19th century American History. There were a couple of inkwells among the papers: one common New Hampshire well from the GII-29 three part mold, and a beautiful square "J.P.F." well, in dark olive green, made at the Pitkin Glass Works. John P. Foster was a superintendent at the Pitkin factory; fragments of this type of inkwell have also <a href="http://www.fohbc.org/PDF_Files/ConnGlass_RCiralli.pdf">been found</a> at the Pitkin ruins in Manchester. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l9XecQ3_vXc/VTbvrQVZ_DI/AAAAAAAABns/KUUntbJOEUo/s1600/mattatuck_flasks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l9XecQ3_vXc/VTbvrQVZ_DI/AAAAAAAABns/KUUntbJOEUo/s1600/mattatuck_flasks.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Coventry flasks: GI-84, GI-86 and GI-80, with violet Mid-Atlantic (?) pattern molded flasks in the background.</td></tr></tbody></table>There was also a display of just early glass, mostly flasks, with some remarkable bottles. The GI-84 La Fayette / Masonic arch is particularly nice: an "extremely rare" bottle according to McKearin and Wilson, with this example looking to be in just about perfect condition, in an unusually clear pure green color, with nary a trace of the olive shades that are typical of Coventry Glass Works material. The other two Coventry flasks aren't bad either, with good examples of the more common variant of the La Fayette / liberty cap half pint, and one of my favorites, a big pint-plus La Fayette / De Witt Clinton.<br /><br />Certain exhibits, including the area with the flasks, weren't much labeled by the museum, if at all. There was a touch-screen information station in the area, but that didn't seem to be working. I can't imagine most visitors would have any idea of what they're looking at with this display, and it really would have been nice if there were signs with at least a basic explanation of the bottles. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JYzs5RGx0bk/VTbvvvh46dI/AAAAAAAABn0/jd0aT8APNVA/s1600/mattatuck_pitkin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JYzs5RGx0bk/VTbvvvh46dI/AAAAAAAABn0/jd0aT8APNVA/s1600/mattatuck_pitkin.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coventry and Pitkin Glass Works figured flasks (GI-85, GII-57 and likely GI-81) with New England Pitkin-type pattern molded flasks</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The other really special flask on display at the Mattatuck was the "J.P.F. - CONN" Eagle / Cornucopia pint, pictured at center above. McKearin and Wilson list this extremely rare (three extant examples) bottle as number five in their list of the 42 most desirable flasks. As with the J.P.F. inkwell, this flask was almost certainly blown at the Pitkin Glass Works in Manchester (part of East Hartford before 1823). <br /><br />Not quite on that level of rarity, but still not the sort of things that would turn up at your average estate sale, there are also two nice figured flasks in this photo from "Covetry [sic] C-T": the pint La Fayette / liberty cap (somewhat scarcer than the half pint), and a half pint La Fayette / De Witt Clinton. The two Pitkin-type flasks in the background are possibly Connecticut glass as well (certainly New England); the larger, nearly pure green example is especially good.<br /><br />There were other interesting things going on at the Mattatuck Museum, even with portions closed because of construction, including a photography exhibit from the ominous <a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-gates-of-hell">Gates of Hell</a> in Turkmenistan, and a <i>really</i> large collection of antique buttons. It was well worth the modest price of admission. <br /><br /><br /><br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1947842537500604853.post-59947453332074666832015-03-22T14:42:00.003-07:002015-03-22T14:42:51.747-07:00Dispatches from the Quiet Corner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e3MHhoI7Pr8/VQiQoWepscI/AAAAAAAABko/eVNIUF5r2vM/s1600/pitkin_feb12_2015.JPG" height="198" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pitkin Glass Works ruins, Manchester, Connecticut, February 2015.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />The northeastern part of Connecticut, more or less from the suburbs of Hartford out to the Massachusetts and Rhode Island borders, is sometimes promoted as the Last Green Valley, a wooded agrarian gap in the Boston-New York-Jersey-Philadelphia-DC megalopolis. Compared to truly rural expanses away from the mid-Atlantic region, the Hartford, Tolland and Windham county area has of course been pretty thickly settled for a long time, but there's still enough hardscrabble dairy farms, shadowy hemlock groves and lichen-covered stone walls around to justify another regional nickname: the Quiet Corner.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2le6Sztp8sA/VQ7VnWkRAVI/AAAAAAAABlw/00PmtK0vHpU/s1600/earlyNEnglandbottles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2le6Sztp8sA/VQ7VnWkRAVI/AAAAAAAABlw/00PmtK0vHpU/s1600/earlyNEnglandbottles.JPG" height="217" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Early New England free blown and dip molded utility bottles, plus Eden the cat.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>From the late eighteenth century through the Civil War period, the Quiet Corner was also one of the earliest centers of glass making in the New World. Manchester, Coventry, Glastonbury, Willington and Westford, now home to working-class suburbs and farmstand vegetable patches, were once known for abundant supplies of wood for fuel and ash, valleys filled with Pleistocene outwashes of clean sand, and cheap labor from illiterate Yankee farm boys, which all were put to use manufacturing flasks, snuff bottles and demijohns. The primitive, earth-colored bottles made by hand in these small factories 200 years ago have a crude beauty that has caught the eye of connoisseurs since the earliest days of academic and collector interest in American glass, and some of the rarer products of early Connecticut glass works are more or less the most coveted and valuable mass-produced glass objects in existence.<br /><br />This blog is intended to be a repository for occasional musings on the early glass works of northeastern Connecticut, covering the factory sites themselves and their history and archaeology, as well as topics related to the bottle collecting world, auctions, museums, photography and art. Posting will probably be pretty sporadic, but I hope to eventually build up a repository of useful or interesting articles on glass from my part of New England. &nbsp; &nbsp; <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15192660491064861917noreply@blogger.com0